


Best Kept Secrets...

by Rose_lily_sunflowers



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Superman - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Background Relationships, Fake Character Death, Gen, Lex Luther Is a Good Dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:03:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 49,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26497600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_lily_sunflowers/pseuds/Rose_lily_sunflowers
Summary: In a world where accelerated aging doesn't work, Lex Luther decides to take in a baby Conner and hope for the best.However, the Light isn't done with Lex Luther yet and they are willing to wait many years.
Relationships: Clark Kent & Kon-El | Conner Kent, Kon-El | Conner Kent & Lex Luthor, Tim Drake & Kon-El | Conner Kent
Comments: 42
Kudos: 223





	1. What they were

**Author's Note:**

> Hello every one!
> 
> I wanted to write this story for some time now and I think it turned out pretty good! There are a few fic in this site where Lex Luther raises Conner and they are all amazing please check them out!
> 
> The Lex in this story is a little bit OOC from young justice!Lex and more like Injustice!Lex. Please forgive me if you see any grammatical/spelling mistakes. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

When Lex luther got that call from cadmus labs an ordinary saturday morning, he would have never thought it would change his life forever.

Lex was signing some of the documents from Lexcorp in his office when it happened. The phone started buzzing and Mercy answered it. After three seconds on the phone, mercy politely passed the phone to her boss. Mercy said nothing except "Cadmus labs".

That's when Lex Luther, genius billionaire and superman's arch nemesis, got suspicious of what was waiting for him at the other side of the phone call.

Exactly half an hour later, he was standing inside Cadmus labs at sub-level 52 where one of the most groundbreaking and illegal genetic experiments were made. With another terrified Scientist.

The superb room was destroyed, some of the computers were aflame and the only structure that was in one piece, was a giant artificial womb standing like a giant vial in the middle of the room. There was a baby inside, slowly swimming up and down in the green liquid.

"What happened?" Lex said through gritted teeth and pointed at the destroyed room. The poor scientist almost fainted.

This lab had cost them thousands of dollars, if not more. It was designed for a series of secret projects named project Kr. Such an expensive lab was now destroyed.

"It was--- it was Mr Luther's order, sir. Your fathers order." she said, the words barely leaving her mouth. "He-- he threatened us. He wanted us to finish it off... He said he and the other members of the light had agreed to reset the experiment with--"

"Thats enough!" lex almost barked. "Is that why this entire place is destroyed?"

She nodded. "The guardian fought doctor Desmond, sir. Their fight was... Drastic." she murmured quietly. "Dr Desmond took the project blockbuster and fought him off. Guardian was taken to st bartholomew hospital and Dr desmond... Is gone."

Lexs eyes narrowed. his eyes fixated itself on the little baby in the tube. The words of his so-called colleague ran through his mind.

_"We must put project Kr on accelerated aging." Vandal had said in their last top secret meeting. "He won't stand a chance against superman if he's merely a toddler." The words were followed by other members' mutual agreement._

Lex hadn't known Lionel Luther, his so called father, would also play a part in this. Lex didn't even know he had relations with the rest of the light. The old man sure had many tricks up his sleeve.

The point still stood that Project Kr was a failure. It had too much human DNA, 50 percent of lex Luthor's DNA, to start the accelerated aging without giving it cancer. Thus, it was considered a failure and no matter how much he hated to admit it, His father was right. Project Kr had to be terminated.

Lionel Luther mixed Superman's DNA with Lex's without either of them knowing. Then, blamed the project's failure on Lexs mere DNA. Lex was never a strong child to begin with, he spent most of his childhood ill and then he went bold. Yet, He somehow ended up being the rock for Lena, his sister, to hide behind and that was a weakness he'd only accept in the private of his mind.

Lex entered a few codes on a miraculously functioning computer next to the pod. The green liquid slowly went away as the child came down and slowly ended on the soft floor of the pod.

A box opened next to the computer, holding two syringes. One broken and one intact. Lex took the working one and examined it in his hands. The glowing liquid in the syringe would kill the child in mere seconds.

The baby would die without ever being able to open his eyes.

He had to finish the job quickly. He cradled the baby in his arms and lifted its left foot and held the syringe right above the baby's foot.

The baby didn't move. Almost like it wasn't alive at all. That was strange, babies are supposed to cry when they are born. So why was he so quiet?

He was rudely interrupted when a screen came down and buzzed with electricity. It had a large gash on it but Lex could clearly see his father's face on it. That old man could somehow find the courage to smile when he saw Lex trying to kill the baby. "Oh, I see you found him.'' Lionel said. "Well, continue, I just thought I'd take one final look at the soon to be non existent family."

Nonexistent family.

Those words echoed in his mind.

"Do it, then. This project was- after all- a failure... And a failure must be dealt with." he said. "I knew this would happen the moment I realised I was too old for my DNA to be used in this experiment and I had to replace yours."

Lex narrowed his eyes and decided not to do this infront of this man. He wanted to end the communication with pressing a button in his phone--

The baby woke up with a gentle whimper, which dragged all of lex attention to the baby. Lex didn't realise he was still holding it. He started moving in his arms, nuzzling closer to lexs chest for some warmth and support. The baby struggled to open his eyes, but after a few efforts he opened them. The babys eyes were green, exactly like Luthers. Lex saw his own eyes staring back at him.

"What are you waiting for? As your father, you always know I know the best."

Father.

Lex looked at the nuzzling baby in his arms and then looked at the screen. Genetically, this boy could be his son. Lex wasn't the only one who came to this conclusion. The scientists present must have thought that as well or else they wouldn't have called him. Lex Luther had two options now. Future or the past. This baby or an old man.

"Like it or not, this-- is your creation." he told himself. "You can't always let that old man choose for you."

Lex stood up, pressing a button on his phone and ending the call, not allowing Lionel Luther to say one more word.

He took a deep breath and looked down at the boy. green eyes met identical green ones. The child waved his hands in the air, taking in what's around him.

He didn't know he was in Luther's hands. He didn't know this man was his father.

The baby sought comfort in the first person to ever hold him, trusting him to keep him safe.

Without second thought, Lex put the glowing syringe back in its place. "No. Someone else might find it" he told himself. Lex picked the syringe up and slammed it on the table, breaking the syringe and rendering it useless. If he was going to keep this boy, no one could even dream of hurting him.

The baby fell asleep again in his arms, closing his green eyes that he inherited from Lex. Lex held him tighter and made his way out. Fortunately, the door was in one piece so he could get out of the room easily with the baby in his arms.

Mercy didn't react when he saw the baby, She merely blinked a few times.

Lex turned to the anxious scientist,who witnessed everything that just happened, and said:"dispose of this entire lab. No one will ever know this place existed."

She fidgeted with her hands. "What about the lights--" he tried to say but Lex cut him off.

"I'll deal with the light." Lex said harshly. "For now, do as I told you."

The scientist nods.

Lex and Mercy leave the lab and quietly sneak inside their limousine without getting unwanted attention. Lex never let go of the infant.

Mercy looked at her phone and then stared at the boy. "It needs a name." she pointed out. Lex realised He hadn't even told her if it's boy or a girl.

"You are right he needs a name." He answered. The boy was soundlessly sleeping.

For the first time, Lex realised The white solar suit he was wearing had a red S shield on his chest. Lex frowned and gently cut it out with Mercys pocket knife and carelessly threw it to the other side of the car, knowing Mercy will dispose of it later.

If Lex was going to keep him, he had to keep that part of this baby's existence a secret from him, preferably forever.

And the baby really needed a name.

It should start with L, or have an abbreviation that starts with L, Like Lex or Lionel. He wasn't going to name his son as "junior" so both of them were out of the question.

Lex looked at the sleeping baby and decided, for once, he won't follow traditions. He wants to name his son Conner. So he'll name it Conner.

"Conner Alexander Luther." Lex said out loud. "His "mother" was Helen. Before she died, she kept him a secret... But naturally I found out."

Good. Every would believe this particular story about his deceased Ex-wife including nosy reporters, a superalien and a very annoying bat.

Mercy barely nodded. "Done." she said and looked up from her phone.

There was one other thing he had to deal with. The man who left the baby in his arms like this. The man who wanted to kill the said baby. Lex looked down at his arms. Conner moved slightly and held lexs finger in an iron grip. Lex Luther knew nothing about kids but he knew an infant should have that strong hold on his finger.

"Mercy." he said quietly, careful not to wake up the infant sleeping peacefully in his hands. "Send the assassins after Lionel Luther. I don't want that madman in the same world as... my son."

Mercy barely touched a button to send a message.

The next day they mourned a funeral and celebrated a birthday.

Conner Alexander Luther was officially born that day.

=======

Lex Luther resigned from the light when Conner was a week old.

The light asked too much about him and Vandal savage acted like he somehow owned the child. Lex wasn't going to let them lay a hand on Conner so he resigned from the light.

Vandal wanted to stop him, not because he took Conner in. To the light's eyes, conner was nothing more than a failed experiment. What they were concerned about was that Lex had destroyed all their samples of Superman's DNA.

Each and every member of the light came with their own set of threats. Lex could handle them all by himself but he wasn't alone anymore. He had a son and he couldn't stand the thought of him being in danger.

All it took was a photo to Vandal Savage and a little visit to one of Ra's Al ghul lazarus pits and Queen bees hide outs.

The photo he sent to Vandal savage was of a meteorite similar to the one that gave Vanadal his immortality. Lex was the first person in history who had the resources and the nerve to revoke the effects of the Meteorite on Vandal.

Lex threw a chemical in the lazarus pit and made it unstable.

He destroyed one of Queen bee's favorite ancient sites.

The light left him alone after that.

With the threat if the light neutralized, he could sleep easier at night. Now there was no one to target them in their sleep. The hero's still made an appearance every now and then but they could never have any evidence to accuse him so it was tolerable.

======

Conner grew up with surprisingly little complication. People didn't question his existence. He finished his baby stage without choking on anything and without showing any kryptonian powers, which Lex was extremely grateful for.

However, Conner craved so much of his attention. Lex wasn't going to deny him that but he was a busy man, someone had to deal with Lexcorp. Lex ordered his office to be child-proofed. That's how Conner ended up spending most of his time in Lexcorp.

One day, Conner managed to smuggle a water gun inside. Lex saw it, but said nothing, not wanting to spoil whatever surprise Conner had in mind.

He didn't have to wait long. At the end of the day, when Lex was done, he saw Conner was nowhere to be seen. He stilled for a moment, worst case scenarios filled his mind. Suddenly he remembered the water gun and smiled.

"Conner! I'm done. we're going home!" he shouted.

Suddenly he felt something hit him in the back, the back of his suit was completely wet. He turned around to see Conner holding the water gun like the police officers he saw in the movies."Gotcha Dad!" Conner shouted and shot the water spray again.

Lex pretended to be injured. He grabbed the clothes above his heart and pretended to be hurt. "Oh, I'm shot with a water gun!" he said and fell down.

Conner jumped on his father and started laughing out loud.

"You know, Conner." Lex said and rested his head on the carpet in his office, 85 levels above the ground. "I think I should start the famous Luther training."

Conner was barely 45.5" tall. He stood up and moved over to kneel down next to his father head. "What's a... training?" he asked, holding his water gun tightly to his chest and giving Lex a very confused look.

"You're like... A small Luther." Lex said with a huge fund smile. "As your father it's my job to help you become a fully fledged Luther. Do you want to be a big Luther?"

Conner nodded a few times while playing with his toy water gun.

"Okay then." Lex said and looked directly at the small boy. "Number one of the things you need to know is... Never underestimate your rivals."

Conners eyes widened as Lex picked up a giant water gun from under his office table and aimed it directly at his chest and splashed water on him.

"Dad!" Conner screamed in delight and jumped out of its way. "It's not fair! Yours is much bigger!" he murmured and simed the water gun at his father's suit.

Lex didn't answer. Conner was right, his was much bigger with longer range. But they were having fun and that's all that mattered.

That day ended in both of them being soaked wet and Lex carrying an exhausted Conner to his room.

Before Lex could tuck him in bed. Conner fidgeted in his arms, locked his arms behind Lex's head and refused to let go. Lex tried to detangle them gently but Conner wasn't going to let go.

Lex was just glad his super strength hadn't kicked in yet, or else he could have never detached himself from this tiny boy.

"Conner," he murmured. "Dad has a lot to do for tonight."

"But you haven't read the rest of the story yet. For tonight." Conner said innocently.

"... Okay, what were we reading?." Lex said and tucked the small boy in his king size bed.

"The hand-me-down horse." Conner murmured, his eyes almost closed shut but he tried to keep them open.

Lex sat on the bed next to Conner and opened the book. Quietly reading the children's book until Conner drifted off to sleep.

======

Somehow the name Lexcorp didn't sound right anymore. He felt uneasy everytime someone said it. he started to think about a name change. The process would be long and hard but it would be worth it.

He started Lexcorp out of pure spite to prove to his father he can do better than him. He succeeded but the victory didn't taste as sweet as he thought it would. For a long time, Lex thought the company would die with him, with no one to continue his work.

It was different now. Although he couldn't choose for Conner, he couldn't take the choice from him either. What if Conner really did want to run this place as an adult?

Lex wasn't running the company because he wanted to prove something to his father anymore.

the old man was gone.

Instead, there was a boy he'd give the world for. He won't make the same mistakes his father did with him. He'll never mistreat Conner for being imperfect or scold him for doing something he liked. No, but he'll do his best to insure Conner will be raised with no more anguish that necessary. He didn't want a spoiled child either. He got a lot of help from parenting books to balance everything.

Which is why he made a truce with superman. Not only him, but the entire league was shocked. He could sense Batman spying on him for a whole week, but he never caught him.

After a while, The league left him alone too.

So if he could repel both the heros and the villains from their lives, he could change the name of the company too.

The change was simple but it meant alot. Conner could keep it and feel included. It would change this one man mission to a family business.

He changed it from Lexcorp to Luthorcorp. He expanded the laboratories and decided to expand the company's work even more in the future so that Conner could choose to take action in whatever direction he wanted. Besides, now that he didn't have a superman to catch, he was kind of bored and the challenge proved to be interesting.

The moment he signed the papers and handed them to his lawyer, The doors burst open and a six year old boy jumped out. Merci closed the door behind her.

He came and stood beside his father. Lex smiled, a very rare sight. As he ruffled the boy's hair. "Well hello conner, how's everything?" he asked.

Conner gave him his tablet, inside was a picture of what looked like a five year-old flying alongside superman in a similar red and blue suit. "Did you know superman had a superboy?" he said with the biggest green eyes Lex had ever seen.

He felt terribly wrong about this. In another lifetime, conner was supposed to be it. But that's a scenario Lex would allow over his dead body.

The fact that superman was caught teaching superboy how to fly proved how unfit he really was. What if it was some villain instead of a reporter that found them?

Lex grabbed the tablet, turned it off and picked up his son. "Well that's interesting news isn't it?" he said with a fake smile, hoping Conner wasn't feeling as horrible as he was.

Conner didn't seem to care that much.

"So tell me how was your day today at school?" he asked.

Conner forgot about superboy completely

=======

"Dad?"

Lex didn't take his eyes off the blueprints he was working on. "I told you not to interrupt me while I'm working Conner. I'll finish in a few hours''

"I just wanted to know which one of these colorful potions were the fear toxin." Conner said innocently aa showed two identical vials. One green and one transparent. The vials were big for his tiny hands and Conner could drop them at any given moment.

"Fear toxin is transparent." Lex said without taking his eyes off the computer. "Be careful while you're studying it." he added out of fear. However he learned that there is no stopping this boy's curiosity.

Conner disappeared silently, he drifted off to his own room and came out late at night for dinner. Mostly to pretend nothing is out of the ordinary.

Lex forgot to even ask him why Conner was looking for fear toxin in his personal collection or how did he even find lex Luthers vast collection of all sorts of toxins. However, Lex remembered all those things when he heard word of what happened to the bully in Conners school.

Lex thought it was a good idea to allow Conner to spend time with people around his age. This way he could even learn to manipulate/socialize at an early age. It took a whole year of investigation to find the perfect school, in the end Conner seemed happy so Lex didn't pay it much mind. He didn't even know there was a wanna-be-bully.

One day, the bully had started screaming about dark ghosts in the middle of lunch break, started hitting imaginary things and was too traumatized to talk after his trip to the hospital. No one ever knew what caused this reaction, or what he exactly went through. The boy begged his parents to take him to another place and they did. People slowly forgot what happened and "the dark ghost incident" slowly became a story for children to scare themselves with. The truth is, the bully wasn't just hallucinating and No one realized what had really happened to him.

But of course it wasn't hard for Lex to find out, Given the guilty part lived under his own roof. So that night, after reading a part of "around the world in 80 days" to his son, Lex asked the million dollar question.

"Conner, I'll ask this once And I expect you to tell me the truth." Lex said and pat the little boy. Conner was under the sheets and his intelligent eyes were slowly getting sloppy with sleep, but he nodded.

Lex was straight to the point. "Did you mix Tylers drink with fear toxin during lunch last week?" he asked. Conner's eyes went wide open, he looked away and covered himself with his blanket.

"Conner." Lex said with his demanding voice. Conner murmured something under his breath and removed the blanket from his face.

He sat and nodded, not breaking their eye contact. "I did something." he said. "But I didn't feed him anything. He ate fear toxin himself! I didn't force him" he said innocently.

"Did he know he was drinking fear toxin?"

Conner bit his lip. "No..." he answered simply.

"Then what you did was absolutely wrong. Unacceptable. I'm very disappointed, Conner." Lexs mouth pressed to a thin line. "Are you sorry." he asked, knowing what the answer was.

Conner looked around. The answer was No then.

"How did you know it was me." he asked, dodging the question.

"Dads have eyes in the back of their heads." he said simply. "Conner, why did you do that?"

"He mocked me for being afraid of spiders so I mocked him for what he was afraid of the most." Conner murmured. "Dark ghosts."

"Im... Not surprised." lex murmured. Conners face bloomed into a smile. But Lex quickly remembered that wasn't something his parenting books would suggest, so he pretended to be disappointed. "guessing people's worst fears is a kind of luther trait. But Next time, instead of taking the matter into your own hands... Tell me. How long was he bullying you?"

"He didn't bully me exactly. He just laughed that I was afraid of spiders... I poured fear toxin in his orange juice because he was mistreating the new girl." Conner confessed. "She's nice... She didn't deserve that."

Lexs eyes widened. Conner did that to help someone else? That was NOT a Luther trait and he dreaded to think where it came from.

"We'll talk about this tomorrow." Lex said and gently tucked him into bed. Conner didn't say anything else and Lex left the room.

When the door closed completely behind him, Lex took out the piece of paper he had ripped off Conners favorite notebook. Conner had made his master plan with coloring pencils and since he couldn't write properly yet, he had planned everything in pictures. There was even a drawing of the bully with two X's as eyes on the back of the sheet of paper.

Lex was going to frame this to a wall. This was his son's first sinister plot.

======

"He displayed a sign of superstrength yesterday. Conner threw the couch upside down while looking for his ball." Mercy had said as a matter of fact.

Which brought them to the present. Conners seventh birthday party.

They had used the first floor of the mansion as a place for the party. "Happy birthday, Conner." posters covered everywall. To Lexs disappointment, Conner wanted an avatar:the last airbender themed party, so a small part of the mansion was covered in aesthetics from the four nation "water-fire-earth-air" the grown ups part however, remained untouched.

Conner didn't want a birthday party at all, but Lex insisted it was an important social gathering which might teach Conner how to act more "normal" when he has to. Conner believed his father just wanted another chance to manipulate others so he put a condition. Conner didn't have many friends his age from outside Luthorcorp employees, except one who he was very close to and Lex couldn't stand.

Conner only accepted grown ups in his party for his father to manipulate if Timothy Jackson Drake could come. Lex Luther was impressed with his son's negotiation skills so he said yes.

Timothy hid behind his father until he saw Conner. He was a shy petite boy with black hair and blue eyes who Lex wouldn't really call important. His father Jake drake, was the owner of Drake industries and disappeared 5 minutes after he dropped Tim off the party.

Lex couldn't help but notice that of all the kids running around, Conner was only comfortable around Timothy. He only laughed when they were together. He only delivered scuffs, growl and half-hearted smiles to others, who were his classmates.

So he was picky then, another trait he picked up from Lex.

The party went smoothly with only one food fight. Tim, as conner called him, and Conner against the rest of the kids. The two normally quiet boys suddenly turned violent and started throwing candies at the other kids when a girl mentioned the absence of Conner's mother and Tim's parents.

When the party ended and everyone left, they still had one guest.

Tim's parents didn't show up on time and Conner pretended like it never happened. He asked for tims help organizing the big pile of useless presents, chatted with him, laughed with him, played with him like the party was still going on.

Tim was having a fun time too. His parents arrived exactly 3 hours late at 12 pm. Lex was just happy he could finally have his boy to himself for the real birthday gift.

Lex knocked and entered Conner's room. Conner was exhausted, he was dressed for bed and already half asleep by the time Lex got there.

"Sleepy now?" lex said and closed the door behind him. Conner sink further into the blankets. "Too tired." Conner said with a yawn. "Can you read the rest of the story tomorrow night, please?"

Lex noded with a smile. "That's not why I'm here. Did you wonder why you didn't get any gift from me today?" he asked.

Conner smiled widely. "Actually... Yes... I was waiting for it." he admitted and sat up, sleep completely forgotten.

Lex sat down on the corner of the bed and gave him a small box he was hiding behind him since he came into the room. "Happy birthday, Conner." he murmured and handed him the box.

Conner eyes it carefully before picking it up and opening it. Inside was a watch. Circular watch with blue jewels around it. The strap was metallic and fitted perfectly with Conner favor for wearing bright clothes.

Conner picked it up and smiled at his father. "Thanks dad." he said.

"You're welcome son." he murmured softly. "But this gift is different." he said and gently took Conners hand and helped him wear the watch.

"Why?" conner asked curiously while moving his hand and looking at it from different angles.

Lex smiled and said: "It's not just a watch. Its a recorder, a tracker, an SOS signal, a camera and of course a projector. Press the button on the right and it will become a complete holo computer."

Conner raised an eyebrow and looked down at his hand. He pressed the right button and a hologram monitor appeared. A keyboard appeared right underneath the monitor. There was only one thing on the monitor and it was giant letters which spelled: "Welcome. Conner luther."

"Wow! It's so cool!" Conner cheered out of excitement.

"Now. Promise me one thing, you will never take it off."

Conner laughed. "Like id ever risk losing something this cool!" he murmured and pressed the right button again. "Thanks dad!"

"You're welcome" lex repeated and pushed him to lie down on the bed. "In you go now it's already too late." Conner nagged slightly and didn't fight his father when he pulled the blankets up to his neck.

Conner was fast asleep moments later.

"What Conner didn't know about that watch couldn't hurt him." lex thought in the private of his mind. "It's appealing to him now and soon he'll be too dependent on it to take it off."

He went for the door, turned off the lights and closed the door.

======

Lex suspected something was wrong when Conner didn't touch his waffles in the morning

He brushed it off as nervousness for the upcoming science fair. But Conner really did seem paler that day than normal.

He and Tim had spent the last year completing a project. The outcome was a "smart sun tracker solar panel". Lex never understood why Conner cared so much for renewable energies. One full year of hard work brought them to the finale of "metropolis young innovators annual fair".

And today was the finale, Conner was worried, much less stressed over the previous two interviews. Today however, he seemed nervous... And sick.

He put aside the daily planet newspaper and looked at his son. "If you don't win a prize, it won't reduce your value as my son." he assured him.

Conner looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "I... Know?" he said hesitantly. "Its just... I feel a little dizzy... And tired."

"You're just nervous." Lex said as a matter of fact. "Don't worry, you'll learn to control it."

"That sounds... Uh... Nevermind." he said and drank his chocolate milk. He politely excused himself and picked up his bag. "I'll see you at 4. Send a text when you get there, please." he said.

"Very well." Lex said and turned back to his newspaper.

Three hours later he received a call, on the other side of the phone was a frantic Tim asking him to come to Metropolis general hospital that instant. Conner had passed out in the middle of the fair and nothing Tim did awakened him.

when Tim had checked for a pulse he'd found none. The fair staff had called the ambulance and he was taken to a hospital nearby. Conner barely got away with his life.

But he didn't open his eyes.

He was comatosed, and no one knew why. A few hours later, he lost the ability to breath on his own.

When Lex was standing at the other side of the window watching a machine breath for his comatose son, he realised Conner wasn't just nervous that day.

The hospital didn't know what they should do with him. They couldn't identify why he was in such a state. Lex quickly arranged for him to be taken to a hospital under his control. The doctors here didn't know what they must do with a half-kryptonian, especially if they were never going to know the said person was a half-kryptonian.

A small figure in the shape of Timothy drake-wayne stopped him from taking one more step outside the hospital.

"Where is he going?" he asked sternly, never breaking eye contact with Lex.

"Somewhere better than here." he answered shortly. "Don't you have a fair to attend to?"

Tim swallowed thickly. "I can't." he murmured. "Not-- not without Conner."

"Conner wouldn't have wanted you brooding here and wasting a year of his life." Lex said bitterly. "The best thing you can do for him is to go back and finish what you two started."

He left Timothy in the room but he could someone enter from the corner of his eyes. "Let's go tim. You have a lot to do." Bruce wayne murmured and pushed him out of the hospital.

When Conner was in Luther hospital, the reason for his sickness became apparent.

A virus.

A common virus, the kind the human immune system can fight off easily, but it turned out to be a challenge for Conners half human physiology.

Conner's immune system was destroying itself while trying to fight the virus. The cause if the comma was still unknown and if his brain activity was a notch lower he'd be brain dead.

Lex wasn't going to sit and watch.

All laboratories under his hand started working triple shifts trying to find a cure.

It was a miracle that they had access to some kryptonite, special material from planet Daxon and years and years of illegal experiments in their database that they could find a working cure in less than a week.

But for the cure to work, they had to put him in a solar suit and allow his kryptonian genes to do the miracle, which is why he was transferred to cadmus labs. And was "sunbathing" there.

Conner's illness and disappearance didn't go unnoticed. Lois Lane almost entered cadmus labs under a false ID and almost found the supersecret sublevels.

In response to her questions, Lex only replied with : "I took him away so the likes of you couldn't bother him."

======

Conner woke up after exactly two days, after a week, he was allowed to walk around the lab.

Lex couldn't leave his side... And couldn't answer Conners questions truthfully. At fifteen years of age, he still knew nothing of his half-kryptonian genes.

Lex wanted to keep it that way.

The day Conner was supposed to be "freed" from cadmus lex left earlier so he could arrange the final touchings of the welcoming party.

Conner that opportunity to sneak out of his room. Conner knew his father wasn't telling him the whole truth and he wanted to find out exactly where he was and what had happened.

The room he was hospitalized in looked exactly like a hospital but outside it looked like a horror movie. He could see some strange eggs on the red walls. He even crossed something like a gnome.

For the most part Conner felt like he was going to throw up. He decided to go back to his room and forget everything when he heard a distant noise.

"This is all your fault!"

The voice wasn't familiar but it sounded young and terrified. Conner also knew he didn't hear it from anywhere near. Curiosity got the better of him and he decided to find out two things.

1\. Who was this kid?

2\. How did the structure of this lab allow him to hear something that was happening so far away.

He followed the voice. It became more clear as he went on. He realised there were actually two boys. Arguing that whose fault was it that they were in this situation.

Conner found them both at the end of a dark hallway. He recognised them immediately as Robin and superboy. Both of them were hanged upside down and there were strange red lamps directly shining at superboy.

Robin saw him immediately. "Hey you! Show yourself" he barked orders like he was the boss of the world.

Conner raised an eyebrow and stepped into the light. His white solar suit reflected the red lights directly in their eyes. "Uh... You are superboy and...Robin, was it?" Conner murmured quietly.

The boy with the R scuffed. "In flesh." he murmured. "Now let us out!"

Conner had heard all the stories before. How the hero's thought they were free to destroy whatever lex Corp laboratory they wanted and how much money his father had to spend on revoking the damage done by heros.

So seeing these kids strangled upside down wasn't that much of a surprise.

"Uhm... I think you shouldn't be here." Conner murmured softly and stared at superboy. "It's kind of a confidential lab. Just because it's run by Luthercorp doesn't mean it's guaranteed evil."

"I know. It was his plan." Superboy murmured. "The worst tactical plan I ever saw."

"Hey!" Robin kicked him feet from where they were dangling upside down. "Don't criticize me in front of the enemy."

Conner raised an eyebrow at robin, then he looked down at superboy again. There was something about that boy that was unnaturally bugging conner. He looked closer at the upside down boy. Superboy resembled superman in the terms of looks and attitude. Conner really hoped the hatred between their fathers wasnt genetic. Superboy seemed like a sweet boy.

Whatever they were up to, he doesn't deserve being upside down like this. "Ok, but why were you really here, huh." he asked

"Investigation." Robin answered shortly. "People like Luther can't just start studying space rocks for the fun of it. There's always some sinister plot behind it."

Conner broke into laughter, to the point his eyes started to water. "I'm sorry but this time there really was no sinister plot." he murmured. "I was sick. And they were looking for a cure for me."

Superboy's eyes narrowed. "And may I ask, who are you?" he murmured.

"Conner Luther, Nice to meet you superboy." he said with a smile and then turned to robin. "You, not so much. Dude, when Batman and Superman haven't crashed down in this place why are you guys here? Listen to your parents for once, believe me sometimes it works out better."

"Are you here to free us or frie us with your boring lectures?" Robin muttered.

"You know I liked the previous robin better. You talk too much." Conner murmured and considered his options. He could walk away like he had seen nothing and leave them both to whatever cadmus scientists had in mind that was guaranteed to be something horrible. Or he could free them and gain absolutely nothing. He wanted to walk away for a moment but remembered a crucial truth about being a Luther.

"No matter what we do, some people will still paint us as the villians. Sometimes you have to act smart enough to stop any possibility of being painted the villain." he could hear his father's tone when he remembered the words.

The truth is, not everyone on cadmus was trustworthy. And anything could happen before his dad reached cadmus. Anything happening to these two will be painted at The Luthers fault. Conner couldn't let that happen.

So he picked a piece of metal lying on the ground and stood on his toes to reach where the chains that were holding the two boys connected to the ceiling with a lock.

Robin was directly under him as he tried to break the lock.

"Free us already." He demanded.

Conner gritted his teeth when the first piece fell in place. "Will you stop, you might just make me regret helping you escape." he answered. He put the second piece in, with enough pressure, the lock snapped and the boys fell down.

Robin landed on his feet gracefully, superboy fell on his head. He stood up and massaged the part where it hit the ground. Conner offered him a hand and helped him stand. "You can find a window at the end of this hallway. Leave before anyone sees you." he said with a smile.

"Thanks. Conner." Jon murmured. Conner only answered him with a fake smile.

The duo were long gone before any one of the security reached the level. Conner quietly sneaked back in his room and waited patiently for his father to arrive and take him home.

========

Lex stared at the open view in front of him. Only minutes ago, Superman was flying around the city. His incredible journey ended around the daily planet and left Lex wondering how none of those reporters ever found out the identity of superman.

He had texted Conner and asked him to come to his office with no other explanation. He knew Conner was hanging out with his friends when he sent the text, so he must be worried.

He was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in," he said.

Conner quietly let himself in and stood next to his father. When lex didn't start a conversation immediately, Conner started to worry even more. "Uhm... Dad? Is everything alright?" he asked, scared of what the answer might be.

"Yes." Lex said surely. "We just need to talk." Lex averted his gaze back to the landscape.

Conner took a few steps to stand next to his father. He was now an inch or two taller than his father, his physique was more built than Lex's.

He had to thank his "mother" for that.

He stood next to him and watched metropolis from 85 levels above the ground. Conner would never get used to this. Being on high grounds always gave him a special feeling he liked and could never describe it.

Lex put a hand on his shoulder. "Wow, look at you, you've grown so much. You'll be running this place before I even know it."

Conner awkwardly touched the back of his head. "Yeah... About that." he murmured.

Before Conner could explain what he had been up to the past few days. Lex showed him how much he exactly knew. "When were you going to tell me you assigned for journalism? Political journalism?" Lex asked, his voice was laced with disgust.

Conner bit his tongue. "Today... I was going to tell you today?" he admitted. "I was afraid you wouldn't accept it from me. You know, it's just a... A side thing.. I will still study economy like I planned before."

Lex sighed loudly. "You know I won't always be here to run this place." he said.

"Dad please--"

"It's the truth Conner. Never talking about it won't change it."

Silence settled between them after those words. For a few minutes, Conner just stared at the traffic under their feet. He wanted to disappear and reappear somewhere else and be alone for a while. This silence was more than he could bear.

Lex was the one who broke the silence. "This is a family business." he murmured quietly. "And I don't trust anyone else to run it except you."

Conner looked away.

"But if you truly don't want it. You can say so." Lex sighed loudly.

"Really?"

"You took a wise course of action Conner. You are trying to find what you enjoy in life. And as much as I hate to admit it, running the family business might not be it."

Conner blinked a few times. He then turned around and took His stoned father in an embrace. "Thanks dad." he murmured.

"Don't get so dramatic now." Lex said with a smile. "I still won't accept anything less than straight A's even in political Journalism."

Conner just tightened the hug. "I'll make you proud." he murmured.

"I already am proud of you, Conner."

=========

Perhaps Lex should have told Conner about the threats made on his life.

Perhaps he should have told his recently turned 17 son the truth about the light and what they wanted from him.

But the last thing he needed was to break their peace and involve Conner in their "evil" schemes. So he tried to solve it without telling his son, and hoping he wouldn't find out.

He was proven very wrong when he spotted Deathstroke on the opposite building and a small rocket was already on its way to his office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a kudos if you liked it. <3


	2. There is no running from the truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conner deals with things he never thought he'd deal with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I honestly didn't expect the first chapter to get positive reviews! Thank you all for leaving a comment or a kudos. <3

When Conner received that fateful call a normal monday morning, he never thought it would change his life forever.

Conner was alone in his room, watching the last episodes of JOJO and nervously anticipating the finale when all the phones in the house rang in unison. He waited for Mercy or another servant to answer the call but no one did. It soon became too much sound, so conner picked the phone himself. "Luther mansion" he said emotionlessly. "How may I help you?"

"Conner. It's Mercy." 

Conner was shocked to hear the cyborg assistant so nervous. The woman who normally only spoke two or three words a day completely emotionlessly, was scared. He could hear the worry in her voice. Stuned, he asked: "Mercy?"

There was a beep on his cellphone, a notification. He was keeping an eye out for trending tweets for a while now. He opened the notification and found the live feed of a fire breaking out in the heart of metropolis. All Conner saw was the Giant "L" on the building that was currently aflame.

Luthorcorp.

It was alright, they had insurance after all and the place where the "L" was, was usually empty.

A moment later he remembered why the "L" was usually empty, it was right behind his father's Office. 

His blood ran cold. He couldn't form coherent sentences even in the private of his mind for a full minute. When he could think clearly, he dropped the phone and raced to the garage.

"Conner!" Mercy's voice broke through the phone. "The fire wasn't accidental. The people who caused it might come after you!"

Conner heard none of it, he picked up his helmet, ignored everyone he saw on his way and hoped on his motorbike, racing as fast as he could through the traffic of a major city like metropolis.

Even when he took the shortcuts, it took him half an hour to get to Luthercorp. Mercy called him every single moment of it. Conner paid it no mind because he wanted to see what happened with his own eyes.

There was a small crowd in front of Luthercorp. So he jumped off his bike and stormed off. The bike shut down and parked on its own.

Conner could feel his heart beating in his chest while he ran. He stopped meters away from where the crowd was standing. The fire was already out, from what he could see, the 90 story building of Luthorcorp was intact and neatly functioning. The only part that was damaged was the 85th floor. 

His father's office.

He started to run again, he pushed through the crowd not saying a word. He pushed people and once even got hit by a woman's bag when he tried to make his way to the main entrance. The building was open again and firefighters and other first responders were coming and going.

He rushed inside. He didn't greet the receptionist like he normally did. He didn't chat with Joe the janitor like he normally did. He didn't pet the guard dog like he normally did. He rushed to the elevator and frantically pressed number 85 ten times before the Elevator started working.

In the silence of the cabin. He could hear his own heartbeat hammering in his chest. "What happened?" he thought. "What happened, what happened. Nothing happened. He's fine. Mercys fine. Nothing happened. It's just a misunderstanding." his mind became a loop of these words repeating one after another.

Time seemed to slow down but his heart rate wouldn't. He could feel the blood pressure in his ears and it was starting to feel painful. He straightened his posture and took a deep breath. Conner didn't know who was going to be there. He had to be strong. He had to control these emotions for a few more minutes.

The elevator opened with a ding and he ran out of it. He knew his father's office by heart, he'd spent half of his childhood there.

But outside, before he could open the doors, he was greeted with security, police and an injured Mercy. Her cybernetic arm was now just a piece of metal and she has a bleeding wound up in the other arm. Mercy was alright, very well. That only left....

Where was his father?

Where was Lex Luther?

He narrowed his eyes. "Where's... Where's dad?" he asked breathlessly.

Mercy was the one who could break the silence with an incomplete sentence: "Conner, he--"

But Conner didn't stick around for her explanation. He rushed to the office, opened the double door and almost gasped at what he saw.

The office was ablaze, The carpets were burned, The Windows were broken and the broken shreds were all over the place. The paintings were full of dust and smoke. 

The office was unrecognizable.

There was no sign of a human except a blood stained carpet piece. 

There was no sign of anyone else.

There was no sign of lex Luther.

Conner stared at the office for a minute, his vision blurred and he couldn't focus it on one particular element in the room anymore.

The rest became a blur in Conner's mind. He could never pinpoint exactly what happened after that. When he tried to remember that night he could only recall the smell of smoke and incoherent mumbles of the police.

=======

His father had prepared him for many things, what to do when there was an alien invasion, what to do When earth itself was being destroyed, what to do when someone was wrongly accusing you (or rightly accusing you) how to treat villians and heros and, most importantly, how to be a successful luther.

He also told Conner what to do when he was gone.

Conner didn't, however, listen to the last one. He thought they were going to have a lot of time before the inevitable comes.

When Mercy dragged Conner home that night, Conner shut the door and didn't talk to anyone. The night after the incident gave him enough time to muster his strength for what was to come the next day. Under normal circumstances, he would have had more time to grieve or be left alone, But of course, he didn't have the opportunity because he was a Luther.

By showing the smallest sign of weakness, he'd be swallowed whole by a group of heroes and villains alike who'd love to see lex luthor's work end. Conner couldn't let that happen, no matter how much he felt empty, alone and frustrated with Luthercorp, he couldn't let it die.

Conner couldn't believe he was actually doing this, that he woke up this morning and the nightmare wasn't over. It was hard to believe such a strong man was gone. They apparently didn't even have a body to bury but metropolis officials didn't waste one minute to declare him dead.

(Almost like they were waiting for the opportunity.)

So the next day, Conner put up his brave face and suits and made himself ready to deal with whatever was coming. As he stood there, in front of the mansion's double doors, he knew he wasn't ready. There was still too much he didn't know, but he had to face the people in the company today and remind them he was there.

(Lex's will was pretty clear on what happened after he was gone. But the other board members never liked Conner or his beliefs about the future.)

Finally, He pointed at Mercy to open the door of the mansion. In his seventeen years of life, he never had an experience with the paparazzi, so he didn't know what to expect about what was waiting for him on the other side of the wooden doors.

The flash of light was immediate. He was blinded momentarily but started to walk away while Mercy shouted "no comment" at the reporters. Conner's eyes could only catch one person in the crowd. A woman with black hair and calculating blue eyes. He looked away immediately. He'd seen the woman a few times in his father's company. She was Lois lane-Kent, the only non-hero persona his father ever labeled as dangerous.

The driver closed the door behind him and he immediately turned up the darkened windows, buying privacy for himself. The engine started and they started to move. Mercy was sitting on the opposite side, characteristically quite.

Conner knew this was going to be the longest drive in his life.

He looked down at his watch. The blue jewels danced in the hollow light of the car. The watch was the first "grown-up" gift he received from his father and promised it would never leave his side.

This was going to be a long day.

They made it to the company in time. Conner was supposed to meet the board members today. The same people who taunted him most of his teenage years for his social activities. The same people who thought the company will be "doomed" the moment Conner gets his hands on it.

The same people.

So imagine his shock when Instead of taking him to the meeting, mercy grabbed his hand and dragged him into the office infront of his dads, a room which mirrored the boss's office perfectly.

The office consisted of Two libraries on the sides and a window that showed metropolis view behind an office table.

"Lex has left you a tape." Mercy said simply and closed the door behind them. She pointed at the table in the middle of the room. Conner stopped and raised an eyebrow. "And also you don't need to prove yourself to anyone." Mercy added angrily. 

That's when Conner realised the "board meeting" was a set up to get him here.

Mercy pushed him to sit behind the computer, which Conner did very hesitantly. "What are we doing here?" Conner asked angrily.

Mercy just repeated her words. "Lex has left you a tape."

"A tape." Conner said and raised an eyebrow. Mercy rolled her eyes and pressed the passwords on the computer. Mercy put her hand on the scanner. The computer verified her presence and opened up a video.

In the video, Lex was sitting behind his table like normal. Conner was... Surprised to see his day was turned into a TV series. What sort of big family secret was he going to find out today?

Mercy didn't press the play button, she was waiting for him to do it. Conner wanted to do it. His hand hovered above the mouse. He just had to press it and the video would start.

No matter what he did, Conner couldn't do it. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

The video started.

"Dear Conner. If you're watching this, then it's assumed I'm dead." the voice echoed in the room and Conner knew it really was Dad. 

Conner opened his eyes. It was Lex Luther on the screen, Alive and well. He looked years younger than Conner last saw him. Conner just gripped the side of the table tightly.

"And... It also means I didn't have time to tell you a few important truths. About you and about me." Lex said with an expressionless face. "Maybe the opportunity never presented itself. I wished to never inform you of all this... But we can't run from the truth forever."

Conner narrowed his eyes and tried to listen.

"Many referred to it as an experiment. Project Kr. You will have access to all those files, you can read about it completely... What matters is the outcome, a half human-kryptonian baby. One half of the DNA was me and the other was superman."

Conner's eyes widened. His mind already knew what his father meant to say but he wanted to deny it. He wanted to deny it with every cell in his body.

"It was you, Conner." he said with a soft smile. "You were project Kr. You are a half human-kryptonian clone that I took in. You're my son, just not from the normal way."

"Impossible." conner mouthed helplessly.

"I tried everything in my power to hide it when you were growing up. I thought-- hoped you'd never develop powers, but you did. You almost threw the coach out of the window when you were looking for your ball at ten years old. So We came up with a modified version of blue kryptonite that would suppress the kryptonian powers except semi-invulnerability... And we installed it on your watch. The watch was appealing enough that you carried it everywhere so it did its work."

Conner's eyes widened. He stared at Lex Luthor's Emotionless face on the scene before it morphed to an apologetic smile.

"Conner, I'm sorry you had to find out this way." he said quietly. "I tried to give a normal childhood... And I succeed. I've seen first-hand what happened to meta-humans with not normal childhoods... And I would have never allowed that to happen to you. I personally knew superman for a long time before we became enemies, back in smallville... So I knew not using your powers wouldn't harm you. And I would never risk people finding out... or superman finding out."

Conner closed his eyes and tried to breathe regularly. That wasn't an excuse he thought reasonable.

"If the justice league ever found out the truth, They would take you away. They weren't willing to see you as you are but they would see you as a weapon... One capable of destroying their biggest asset. I'm sure you remember the light. if you had developed Kryptonian powers the light would come after you, too. And I couldn't risk you getting caught in the conflict of heroes and villains. So I decided to wait until you were old enough for all this. That's why I waited. But it appears I have waited too long."

Lex took a deep breath and looked directly into the camera. It was like they were seeing eye to eye. Green eyes met Green ones and Conner could only frown.

"The more time passed, The more you acted like him. I always felt like your obsession with global warming was just another trend you followed, but when you used the example of Krypton as another dead planet that could have been saved... I took it personally. I want you to know, you don't have to worry about anyone from Luthercorp disagreeing with you in these matters. Don't worry about the board members... At least for now."

"I love you Conner... No matter what happens, no matter what you turn into... Never forget who you are." he said and gave him a half smile. "Goodbye."

The screen went off. 

Conner could only stare at his own reflection on the monitor for a few seconds. 

At this point, Conner was sure this was definitely a dream. This couldn't be reality.

"What have I just listened to?" he said as he gripped his hair and put his elbows on the table. "This is wrong, this is wrong..." he murmured, suddenly he looked up at Mercy with pleading eyes. "Please tell me Dad didn't actually say those things... Please tell me it's just a virus planted on this computer."

Mercy said nothing, but the sadness in her eyes was enough confirmation.

Conner let out a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I need to be alone for a few minutes please." he murmured. Mercy nodded politely and went outside, closing the door and shouting at everyone to clear the entire floor.

Clever woman, she probably knew Conner was going to take off his watch and Mercy was taking no chances of anyone seeing anything.

Conner did exactly that. He harshly took off his watch but gently put it aside, not wanting to break it. He stared at the blue jewels for a moment before he felt like the fabric of his reality was being ripped apart.

Conner gripped his hair and opened his eyes, he stared at the black screen and huffed angrily. "This is not happening!" he murmured loudly. "This is not happening!"

But of course the pain in his hair told him that he was awake and everything was exactly reality.

He rested his head on the table for five minutes and tried to think of nothing. He tried to focus on his breathing and put aside his anxious thoughts for one blessed moment before they invaded his mind like a tsunami.

"There is only one thing that will prove it." a dark thought said in his mind. "Dad's collection of kryptonite. The green one... If it hurts, it's real."

Yes. That was the only way he could prove it to himself that it was all real. Conner knew there were a bunch of color coded kryptonites in his dad's office.

He stood up and turned off the computer, he couldn't take any chance for someone stumbling upon these sacred information that could literally ruin his life.

Mercy had cleared the floor so sneaking inside the office wasn't hard at all. He just left the room and went directly to his father's office and opened the doors. 

The inside was exactly as he remembered it from last night, Destroyed and literally reduced to ash.

Good thing Luthercorp was updated to survive superman attacks, or else the building would have been done for.

Conner closed the door behind him and leaned against it. He couldn't get closer and find the kryptonites, or else he'd ruin the crime scene. He didn't know what else to do but watch, observe and try to understand what had happened.

Last night, he refused to believe a word of what the police detective told him. He only started to acknowledge them when he was shown the photos and hard evidence. 

The gut feeling that everyone was trying to trick him was still there.

He pushed the thought of the kryptonites aside for now, he couldn't risk ruining the scene and there was a possibility that the attacker had taken them as well. Because nothing of actual value was stolen from the office during the attack. 

Just lex, the rest of the missing materials had burned down.

He looked at the half-burnt carpet on the ground and gunshot places on the roof. Just like the police officer had told him.

Someone had attacked this place with a rocket to scare everyone off, came in, started shooting and disassembled Mercy, by this time lex was fatally shot. 

When the dust settled and mercy could actually see what was happening. The man was gone and so was Lex. 

Mercy didn't actually know if Lex was dead or not but she saw him being shot right next to his left shoulder. The officials told him there was too much blood on the crime scene and Lex bled out and passed away shortly after being shot.

Conner closed his eyes and hummed, trying to imagine what happened. He was partially successful but there was a small detail he couldn't account for...

... If the attacker wanted to kill Lex, why did they take the body?

Then, a simple thought crossed his mind. 

(Dad is alive)

He looked back at the blood-stains again. As far as he could tell, they were real but there was something on the opposite wall that got his attention. It was scratch, like the path of a dart. Conner slowly moved his hand on the outlines of it. It was too neat to be caused by a bullet and too small to be caused by a knife.

His brain went highwire with information and decided that this definitely was the track of a syringe or a dart. 

What kind of an attacker would use a dart against people? An attacker who want to kidnap not murder.

A smile touched his lips and he felt hopeful for the first time. He wanted to open the door and shout it to the skies. Call mercy and demand the detectives to come back so he could--

\--but no. Lex Luther was already pronounced dead. The detectives wouldn't listen to him and he needed more proof before telling anyone. He didn't want to give an excuse to the board members (who never liked him.) to doubt him and his sanity.

He needed more proof. He needed to get at the bottom of this. He could. He could do all that and find his father and resume living like they had.

Except they couldn't.

Suddenly a sound on his phone woke him up from his daydream. It was his phone and the ID was simply "Luthorcorp security". Conner put the phone next to his ears and answered. "What is it?" he asked, a little annoyed by the interruption.

It was the head of security. "Sir, there is someone waiting for you on your office balcony." he said simply.

Conner raised an eyebrow in confusion. "My balcony?" he asked. "Who would want to meet me in the balcony instead of my offi--"

He shouldn't have asked that question. The answer was too obvious.

(Superman.)

"Don't engage or show yourselves in any way. He wants to talk with me and I want to do it privately." He demanded. The guard nodded and the communication was terminated.

"Great," he muttered angrily and stood up. There was another matter he needed to attend to.

=======

This time there were people present when he made his way to the balcony. They were mostly security, but their presence was extremely unnecessary.

Unconsciously, Conner looked down to check the time and call mercy but quickly realised he had left the watch in the office. He said nothing to the security as he went inside and shut the door behind him.

The moment he laid eyes in the office, he could see superman hovering above the ground right outside of the balcony. "Computer, secure the room... And the balcony." he murmured softly. He could guess why superman was here. He probably wanted to convince Conner to "be good" and doing so he would expose some of his father's earlier works. Conner didn't want anyone to accidently hear it.

"Secured." the metallic voice echoed in the room and Conner narrowed his eyes.

He fixed his tie and walked to the door, he tried to keep his face completely emotionless as he walked by and entered the balcony.

The slight breeze was welcome. It reduced the tension somehow between the alien and the son of his ex-arch nemesis.

Conner took a thorough look at the man of steel. He looked exactly like the photos online. However, He wasn't close enough for Conner to examine his face.

"Greetings?" he said politely and raised an eyebrow. 

Superman smiled at him and slowly landed on the balcony. He was now close enough for Conner to see his face clearly but suddenly Conner was too afraid to do so. 

"Hello, Conner."

A sentence repeated in Conner's mind. "He has no idea. He has no idea. He has no idea. He has no idea." So Conner put a fake smile of his own and never let his confident posture go away. "Well that's a pleasant surprise, to what do I owe this pleasure, superman?"

"I just wanted you to know I had nothing to do with what happened to your father." the alien said gently.

Conner couldn't help himself, he took a step towards the alien in his balcony and took a closer look. His other genetic donor looked much more like him that his dad did. He wondered if Superman saw the resemblance too.

But no, Conners eyes were green and his hair was auburn. The rest of their faces looked completely identical. He shook his head once and went back to the matter at hand.

"I only believe the evidence, superman." he murmured. "And frankly, none of them point in you or the league's general direction."

Superman raised an eyebrow. "Good to know." he said. "But that's not the only thing I'm here for."

"By all means, Say what you want to say." Conner said bitterly and put his hand in his pocket. He tried, really hard, to listen to what his other DNA parent had to say.

"Your father did many wrongs--"

"Ah- this again. I'm tired of hearing it." he interrupted. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"You're not your father, Conner Luther. You're even better than the man he turned to be in the last years of his life." Superman said gently. Conner flinched at the words. Superman continued talking nonetheless. "I know you've done good. You were a volunteer charity worker. You went in protests, most of which was behind Lexs back. The amount of money you convinced lex to invest in renewable energy rivals the waynes. Not to mention the time you freed my son from Cadmus. So I have a question for you, Conner Alexander Luther, do you really want to repeat your father's wrongs.... Or do you want to make your own better future?"

Conner took a deep breath. "I never did anything behind Dad's back." he spat bitterly. 

That was a lie. Superman was actually right about doing most of that good intended work behind Lex Luther's back but that's not something he's going to confess to his father's so called "arch nemesis".

"Conner.'' Superman said gently. "The Justice League believes that the attack was done by one of Lexs former colleagues.... Or should I say the villains."

Conner looked up at superman's blue eyes. Was he kidding? There was a missle shot at the company of course it couldn't have been a normal angry thief!

"How may I help you?" Conner said politely. "As you may know, my father ceased his "Villainous" work, as YOU put it, before I was born. I barely know anything."

Another lie. He knew everything about the light and what they did, up until about ten years ago.

"Is there anything missing? Or do you think any of your father's newer works would somehow trigger them to attack after all these years." He asked.

Conner shrugged. "None that I know of." he said truthfully.

Superman raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Conner nodded politely. "I had my own life to plan in the past few months, superman. Wait until your son reaches my age and you'll know how busy I was."

Superman didn't say anything else. 

"It would be very kind if you left now superman." he said and turned his back on him. "Believe it or not... I have pressing matters to attend to."

Superman nodded and slowly hovered above the ground. Conner watched him fly away with longing eyes. Superman flew and flew until he was only a red dot in the sky. Conner could only wonder if he could ever reach that level of flight. 

====

Truthfully, superman expected the new Luther to be more harsh towards him. There was no sign of deep hatred that Superman was absolutely sure Luther had infected his son. But Conner Luther sounded polite and formal towards him. No Luther had talked to him like a human being since Lex found out about him all those years ago and their friendship was doomed.

Superman had a lot of time to think while he was flying back to his house. And nothing made sense about the boy's civil behavior. Not one single kryptonite bullet was aimed at his chest and that's... Surprising.

He reached the neighborhood just in time for dinner. He landed and used his enhanced vision to take a look in their house. The pie that Ma sent was being reheated and his wife, lois, was working on her laptop behind the table. It was mostly quiet which meant Jon was still out.

Superman changed out of his costume in the telephone booth and came out as Clark Kent. He slowly walked to his house and opened the door. 

"Hey there." Lois said with a smile and closed her laptop. "What took you so long."

Clark hung up his coat and hat and put aside his notebook. He checked that he had written everything down before putting the notebook away. It was a habit since childhood that he wrote down everything, one that came in handy as a journalist. "I went to see the Luther Kid as Superman. '' he said and washed his hands.

"Since you're in one piece I guess it went pretty smooth?" Lois asked and raised an eyebrow.

Clark came into the kitchen and kissed his lovely wife. "Surprisingly." He added and sat down. "Where's Jon?" lois stood up and brought the Pie out of the oven with two spoons and plates.

"At Damian's house. Tim sneaked out of the manor without saying a word and Damian called Jon for a sleepover instead of alerting Bruce." Lois said and spinned her spoon.

Clark let out a laugh. "Sometimes I wonder how Bruce ended up raising five kids." He said with a sigh.

"Yeah, considering he dresses up as a bat every night." lois said with a chuckle. "Speaking of children... How was the Luther boy? Does he know anything?"

Clark took a huge piece of pie on his plate. "Highly doubt it." he said. "He... Looked shocked... He also lied about doing things without telling his father."

"He's seventeen." Lois said with a chuckle. "He's probably done a bunch of things lex never knew about and vice versa. Clark, you can't convince a boy who just lost his father that the said father was a madman. Anyway, perry was right. He probably knows nothing about that--- thing--- that attacked Luthercorp."

"Batman said it was the light. Specifically deathstroke." Clark said with a frown. "What we don't know is why they went after him after all these years."

"When did any of them ever work rationally?"

Clark chuckled. "Good point." he said. "The league will keep an eye on the boy. I think batman has already hacked Luthorcorp."

"You mean they'll come after him?" Lois asked. "Interesting."

Clark only nodded and decided to change the subject. Conner Luther wasn't a time consuming or important subject in Clark Kent's Life.

=======

Conner always liked Luther mansion, it was big and mysterious enough for Conner to run around in as a child. It was big enough for Conner to throw his parties. All and all he loved the place. Him and his father had a sum total of two other people in the mansion. Mercy and the butler, who never showed his face around and denied every chance Conner tried to befriend him.

Both of them never stayed long in the house itself, Which meant Conner and Lex had the entire house to themselves most of the time.

Now, However, Conner was completely alone. He was alone and the sound of the old house was bothering him more than usual. 

After fidgeting too much in his bed and trying every position, it was apparent sleep wasn't coming to conner that night.

So Conner found a scalpel and neatly removed every piece of jewelry from around his watch in the private of his room. The blue pieces who had a soft glow to them were clearly kryptonite, but Conner emptied all of the others just in case.

When he put his watch back on, he didn't feel anything suddenly, but he had faith in himself about it. 

(The truth is Conner had no idea why he removed the kryptonites. Did he want powers? No. Did he feel uneasy? No. Did he do it out of spite? No. He just didn't know what else to do.)

He checkmarked another point in the list. So far it was going pretty smoothly. He took another look on his short list for the day. One he had written in his notebook.

1\. See the video again✅

2\. Get home and remove the Blue Kryptonite.✅

3\. Find Green kryptonite from Dad's office and check the theory.

4\. Find out what to do next.

He drew a smiley face next to number 2 and closed his notebook. Writing things down in it always calmed him down somehow. It was a private asset that not even his father could touch. 

Now there was no one in the house. Hiding the notebook had no point.

Conner took a deep breath and picked up a flashlight. He had a lot to do. 

The house was silent. He could hear the crack of the wook under his feet, the owls, the sirens of the police, the laughter of a runaway teenager on the other side of the streets.

(Wait, What? Nevermind.)

He walked alone in the manor with a flashlight. He didn't want to alert mercy or the butler so he kept low and held the flashlight close to his chest.

He felt like a burglar in his own house.

The office in their house was pretty similar to Lex Luthers office in Luthorcorp. Big enough space with huge Windows. The only difference was that behind lex was a picture of them both here, instead of windows like in Luthorcorp.

He was thirteen in the photo. Both Lex and Conner had the biggest smile on their faces.

Conner didn't waste time. He went to the drawer and tried to ignore the numerous baby pictures of him on the table. He opened the drawer and entered the simple password. Dad's birthday. Every password inside this house was dad's birthday.

The drawer opened with a hiss. Conner opened it completely and saw that inside of it was a single lead box in the size of a ring box. Conner swallowed and took it out. 

He inspected it thoroughly for some sort of Booby trap. He wasn't a professional but he found none of his father's usual ones. So he carefully opened the lid of the box, and hoped that nothing would hurt.

The moment he saw the green light, nothing happened. Hope started to bloom in his chest.

Out of curiosity, he gently touched the green rock and tried to hold it. The next moment he felt his stomach was turning he felt extremely nauseous and his vision blurred so fast he thought he lost his vision. He tried to grip the table and keep standing but his hand didn't have enough strength to do so.

He fell down with a loud "thud". The lead box fell just above his head. 

The nausea came back with a vengeance. He felt like his head was going to explode from the sheer force of pain. 

This was a nightmare.

No one was there to actually help him up.

The truth that there was no one to take the green kryptonite away hurt more than the physical pain the green stone was causing.

Conner tried to grab the box and close it, but the more he got close to it, the more it hurt. Conner couldn't even find the strength to roll over and hide behind something. 

Conner closed his eyes and bit his lip. He found the box with his hands, it felt like he was willingly pressing his hand against a campfire. He hissed in pain and closed the box. No matter how much he felt like his hand was burning.

The pain didn't leave instantly, but it decreased enough for Conner to realise he had been holding his breath. He sighed heavily and laid there on the ground and waited for the phantom pain to go away.

It didn't. It wouldn't go away without enough exposure to sunlight and he was currently in the darkest manor in metropolis... During nighttime.

He heard footsteps behind the door. 

A frantic yell almost stopped him from passing out. 

"Conner!"

He felt Mercy kneel next to him check his pulse and breathing.

Conner didn't know the vines in his neck were glowing a deep green, pulsing painfully. The corner of his eyes was also turning a painful green. He couldn't keep his eyes open for much longer.

Touching the kryptonite was a bad move. 

Conner felt safe enough in Mercy's presence that he allowed himself to pass out. 

First encounter with kryptonite is never easy.

=======

(What have I done?)

(What did just happen?)

When his eyes opened, he saw Mercy standing above. He felt unbearably warm. Conner jerked awake with a gasp and sat up, breathing heavily.

Mercy turned off two giant lamps that Conner hadn't noticed were above his bed directly shining at him. They had put him under artificial sunlight for about an hour before his body healed and he woke up.

Mercy leaned against the lamps. "that works." Mercy said simply. Conner raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Mercy crossed her arms. During all these years, Conner learned that was a subtle sign of anger. "exposure to pure kryptonite would have hospitalized superman." she said with a frown.

Conner just hummed. He drew his knees close to himself and chuckled. "Sorry about that." he murmured. "Thanks for saving me back there."

Mercy nodded and turned around. "get some sleep." She said, deliberately leaving the lamps behind. "And put those blue kryptonites somewhere else."

Conner paled. Mercy left saying one more word. Leaving Conner in the private of his room.

Conner touched the solar lamps for one minute. These could give him his powers... But they'd take away tonight's sleep and Conner wasn't so eager to suddenly float around.

Floating around.

Floating around.

He was a half-kryptonian which meant he had the ability to float around. He was a half kryptonian, he reacted to kryptonite. All those words were true. 

He pressed his hands to his face. His dad was right. There was no running from the truth.

Conner sighed loudly. He didn't have a mum. He literally didn't have a mum. There was no surprising meeting or any other drama before they met because He. Had. No. Mother.

This was too much. Too fast.

He picked up his notebook and started plotting his next move. He scratched out the first three pages. The normally neat notebook now had three scratched out and folded papers in it. 

Shame.

Conner wrote, erased on three other papers before he settled on what he could do tomorrow to help this position. 

Conner closed the notebook and put it aside. He wanted to close his eyes and drift off to sleep. But he desperately felt like he couldn't go through tomorrow alone.

He stared at his phone for five minutes before calling the first number that came through his mind.

One beat.

Two beats.

Three beats.

Conner thought he couldn't answer in this time of the night, he was about to hang out when he heard his friends voice on the other side.

"Tim Drake-wayne." Tim said on the other side of the phone. To Conners surprise, he didn't sound sleepy or sloppy as a normal person would at 3 am.

"It's me, Conner." He murmured, hurriedly. 

"Conner?" 

"Yeah it's me." he murmured quietly, "Can you do something for me without going full detective mode?"

Tim answered him with silence.

"Tim!"

"Ok, Ok. What is it?"

"Can you come to metropolis... And make bruce not follow you? I... Can't be alone right now."

"Oh my god sure... Conner are you alright? Is everything Ok?"

Conner cletched the phone tightly. "Tim don't tell anyone but I think Dad might be alive." he muttered, his voice at the verge of breaking down.

"Oh." 

"Yeah, oh... Just come here, ok?"

Suddenly the sound of Mercys light footsteps filled the air. Conner tried to talk even quieter. "Just come here, Ok?" he repeated softly.

"Sure Con. Sure."

"Thanks. Mercys coming, gotta hang." he said and ended the call.

He stuffed the phone under his pillow and leaned against it. he couldn't fake sleep, Mercy would know in a heartbeat, so he decided to just lean against his bed frame and watch the moon behind the glasses.

"You should sleep." 

As always, Conner didn't even notice her coming into the room. One moment he was alone and the other Mercy was standing right next to the bed frame, glaring at the boy.

"I know." he murmured and drew his knees closer to himself. "I just want to be alone right now."

Mercy nodded and made his way out. Before The door closed behind the well built woman, Conner asked: "do you think he's really dead?" 

She stopped and looked directly at conner. They stayed like that for a minute, Conner wanted her to say something. Confirm or deny it. He wanted her opinion. The only other person who ever managed to gain Lex Luthers trust.

Mercy said nothing and closed the door behind her, leaving Conner in the dark and silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes Tim Drake-Wayne!


	3. Secrets discovered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conner invited his dear friend, Tim Wayne, over to help him figure out a few secret identities. Tim was confused about what he must do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Thank you for reading this and a special thanks goes to those who leave a kudos or comment 💜💜
> 
> Tims story follows the canon batman comics. He figures out batmans identity and becomes Robin and then Bruce dies and he becomes Red Robin. 
> 
> Conner, of course, doesn't know about any of this.
> 
> He just knows Tim was looking for batmans secret ID for a while in their childhood and then Tim was adopted by their neighbor Bruce wayne in their teens.

Metropolis was known as the city of tomorrow, mostly because there were no major villains holding it back and Superman and the police force were good at what they did. 

A five year-old can travel safely in this city.

Which is why Conner felt safe enough to take Tim to a public park in the city center. Sneaking out of the house and successfully avoiding thousands of his father's security measures were easy, he'd been doing that since he was 15. Mercy was busy with the lawyers so she didn't notice he was gone. Conner picked up a hoodie, put on a cap and came here, to this beautiful park, with two chicken sandwiches.

Tim wasn't in a much better attire. He was wearing an oversized black hoodie and jeans. From the looks of it, he hadn't told Bruce Wayne, his guardian, where he was going. His eyes were bagged and he was holding a big cup of coffee when they met.

When they settled down on a bench. Without wasting a second, Conner started: "my father is alive and I need to find out who superman is."

Tim stilled momentarily, chicken sandwich completely forgotten. "What did you just say?" he asked, surprised.

Conner put his sandwich aside. "Look I know this sounds crazy, but dad left a video for me and finally told me the truth about how I came to his life. I thought he wanted to tell me about my mom but," he leaned forward and held his mouth near Tims ear. "It turns out. I'm a clone made from mixed DNA of superman and Lex Luther. Everybody wanted to kill me but dad made a different call."

The words came out easier than he thought. Tim however, wasn't willing to digest them completely. Tim tilted his head. "You're bluffing." he murmured. 

For a moment, all the sound in the area was the laughter of kids nearby and the barking of dogs. Tims eyes were shining and Conner knew those eyes anywhere, they were calculating and quickly scanning his face for similarities between him and the famous man of steel. Tim came to his own conclusion pretty fast. "shit, you are not bluffing." Tim murmured very quietly. Conner could only hear him because their faces were inches apart.

Conner leaned back, putting some space between him and a very baffled Tim Drake-Wayne. "That's why I need to find out who superman really is... I want to know who he really is outside of being Dad's arch nemesis." he murmured. "And maybe.... Maybe he can help me find dad."

"Then why did you call me?" 

Conner raised an eyebrow. "Do you remember when the news of the second robin's demise hit the internet and you were crazy trying to find out who batman really is?"

Tim narrowed his eyes. "I was eleven... And I couldn't... Find out who batman was." Tim said as a matter of fact.

Conner leaned back, much more relaxed than he thought he would be. "Still... You've got mire experience than I do."

Tims gaze was lost on the floor, the sandwiches completely forgotten. Conner snapped his fingers in front of him and gained his attention again. Tim jerked awake from his day dreaming. 

"Hey Tim, when was the last time you slept?" he asked out of context.

Tim gave him a questioning gaze.

"Ok. Don't tell me. But promise me you won't tell anyone what I just confessed because you were sleep deprived." Conner pleaded. 

Tim waited a moment, then nodded. "What are you gonna do?" Tim asked and narrowed his eyes.

Conner smirked. "Thought you'd never ask." he murmured and pointed at the building right behind them. "I'll start right there... The Daily Planet. I think Lois lane-Kent AKA Superman's favorite reporter, can say a few things."

He looked at his watch, his interview with Lois lane-Kent was in five minutes at ten O'clock Sharp. Conner stood up and grabbed Tims arm, dragging him behind. "Come on! I don't want to be late for my first official interview." he said and pushed Tim to follow him faster.

They crossed the park and ended up next to the daily planet building. The building was tall and had brick walls as outdoor decoration. A giant globe was on the top with the famous Daily planet logo on it.

Conner smiled, took out two sunglasses and handed one to tim. "We should go prepared. They're not paparazzi but, You know..." he said. Tim gladly accepted and put them on.

Conner wanted to go inside the building, but Tim grabbed his elbow and stopped him. "Except the sunglasses part... You haven't thought anything through.'' Tim nagged. "What are you gonna do? Lois lane is good at her job. He's not going to slip up anything." 

Conner broke his grip on his arm. "Who said she's gonna slip anything. I haven't been living under a rock, Tim. I know what Lois Lane is exactly capable of. This woman interviewed Deathstroke! She's basically my role model."

Conner opened the door and Tim followed behind with a sigh.

The insides were like a hotel, there was a sitting area with TVs on and a small reception, the person behind which was currently talking on the phone. Conner walked to her. "Sorry, I want to talk to Lois lane-Kent." he said.

The woman broke the call. "I'm sorry, who are you? Do you have time, Mrs lane is very busy at the moment." she explained. Conner raised an eyebrow. He looked around and then slightly removed his glasses so the woman could see his face.

The woman's eyes widened when she recognized him. "She's at the 20th floor. Go ahead, I'll tell her you're coming." she said. 

"Thanks." conner murmured. 

The elevator opened with a press of a button and they both stepped inside. Conner pressed number 20 without a second thought.

"I still think this is crazy." Tim muttered. "Why am I here, again?"

"I need your opinion on this. Besides, I need your help with the detective work. You always know everything about everyone." 

"I thought Luthers were solitary creatures."

Conner raised an eyebrow and looked straight into his mesmerizing sky- blue eyes. "I am a Luther, But i'm also something else but I would rather not say it here," he murmured.

"You are crazy. Crazy. Crazy. I can't believe you're my best friend." 

Conner punched him in the shoulder. Tim rubbed the place he hit with a sigh.

The elevator doors opened and a very angry Lois lane greeted them at the spot. She stepped inside and stopped both of them from getting out. "Not here." she said and pressed number 13. "There is a good conference room we can talk in and until we get there... No words."

"Yes ma'am." they both said at the same time.

The elevator landed and she pushed both of them out and into the nearest room and shut the door.

"Ok!" she said with a breath of relief. "Hi. Lois lane. How can I help you?" Conner shook her hand. Tim did too awkwardly.

"Conner Luther is friends with Tim wayne." Lois said with a smile. "Wow. Not what I was expecting to see today. What would Mr Wayne say I wonder." there was too much venom and too many unsaid things that Conner preferred not to think about.

Tim however was fidgeting nervously with his fingers and murmuring incoherently under his breath.

"Dad always said if I ever wanted to go public or if I became serious over becoming a reporter, I should first contact you... As you were "the most intelligent/hardworking reporter out there" his words, not mine. And I want to do both. Break the silence on my fathers--- my Fathers disappearance and I want to see if the daily planet is somewhere I want to work in.``

"You-- want to be a reporter?" she said and raised an eyebrow. 

"I want to see if it's something I want to do. I haven't made up my mind yet."

"Ok. Answer my questions and I might just be able to help you."

Conner pulled out the nearest chair and sat down with a smile. "20 minutes. Fine by me." he murmured. And pressed the timer at exactly twenty minutes.

Lois turned on her recorder and looked at Tim. Tim just shrugged and pulled out his phone. What a wonderful way to pass time.

Lois converted her reaction back to the matter at hand. "I have to say, I was surprised you actually showed up." Lois said seriously. 

"I wouldn't have called you if I wasn't Serious, Mrs lane." Conner murmured. "My father quite insisted that I shouldn't start the first interview with anyone other than you. He actually preferred it if I didn't do it with anyone at all."

Lois leaned down, liking where the conversation was going. "And do you know why?"

"He never said why."

Lois hummed thoughtfully. "Do you anything about your fathers murder? Do you think he knew he was being targeted that he instructed you what to do after he was gone?"

Conner clenched his hands. The next words came out through gritted teeth : "no, he was a futurist. He had been telling me what to do after him since I was five. Not just that, he always wanted to plan far-- far ahead sometimes I wasn't sure if he would actually live that long. And No-- I don't think he knew he was being targeted."

"How do you feel about it?"

Conner raised an eyebrow. "I feel like the city rushed too much to pronounce him dead. I know the normal procedures take more than a month to announce a missing person dead, but for my father... It happened overnight. I don't care how convincing the evidence sounded. I still feel like the city was too eager to hear the news of his death."

"You talk like you believe he is still alive, do you?" Lois said and narrowed his eyes.

"I'm lost as much as the detectives are, Mrs Lane. I'm trying to process the information. Metropolis PD still knows nothing of what attacked the company or what happened during the attack and the only thing they told me with certainty was that Lex Luther was dead. My father had an Ironclad will-- or else we would have had trouble with managing the company as well, as always he had contingencies for everything to keep the company standing."

"Is it easy, handling lexcorp?"

"It's Luthercorp." Conner corrected. "I'm not handling anything. I haven't finished my studies and because of circumstances I have to take a break from it. Current head of the company is trusted enough to handle it until Im ready."

"Do you think you'll ever be ready? From your presence in social media, you have far too different a personality from your father to ever be able to run the company with the ruthlessness and efficiency he did." 

Conner blinked for a moment. He'd never seen someone like Lois lane in any of his feeds. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean." he murmured.

"Your views on the world differ from those of your father. Your opinions are different on key matters, such as your devotion to the environment and renewable energies and your father's investment in oil companies. Do you think you will ever be ready to be the head of a company that works so differently from your mindset? Which one will you change? Your mindset or the company?"

Conner was taken aback by the question... In truth he had never really thought about it. Most of Luthercorp's admittedly "mad scientist" works were shut down shortly after he was born. But lois was right. This was something else entirely. 

Running Luthercorp, would take some time but he'd master it... eventually.

"To answer your question, I must finish my studies first, Mrs lane. To know which one is the better option. Im not educated enough to make such a decision right now-- but I know this," he said confidently. "That the only constant in the world is change. My father was born in a world thriving with the newfound money and opportunities oil brought with itself. I was born to a different world. The world I'm living in is slowly dying. And I'm one of the lucky ones who isn't getting affected by it directly."

Conner took a deep breath. 

"I'm not my father's copy. Of course change is inevitable. But I can't comment on the severity of it."

"And why is that? Why do you feel the need to change the course of the company?"

"Are you joking, Mrs lane? Krypton. Mars. Daxon. Lobo's planet. These are only four dead planets that we know of, are we really going to add Earth to the list? Every single of the dead planets could have been saved and I can't stand by and nothing as the same thing is happening to earth. I- as a human- am doing whatever I can because I don't have superpowers to get myself off the planet earth and survive." 

Suddenly, the bell rang and Conner let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. He leaned back and smiled. "Well... That was intense." he murmured. 

"Indeed." Lois murmured and turned off the recorder. "Thanks for giving me the time."

"You're welcome. So... Can you show me the Daily planet please?" Conner said with a smirk.

"Right now?" she asked. 

Conner stood up and fixed his clothes. "If it isn't much trouble." he said politely. 

Lois narrowed his eyes and nodded. "Well, I don't have much time but I can show you around and tell you how things work around here." she said with a shrug.

Conner smiled. "That would be wonderful," he said. 

Lois stood up and made her way back to the elevator. Conner grabbed Tims hand and pulled him to it. Tim nagged all the way, insisting the matters didn't really involve.

"I need your detective eye today, Drake." Conner murmured quietly before they stepped inside and hoped Lois wouldn't hear it, fortunately, she didn't. She just pressed another number. "I only have time to show you the studio, the office and the printing sights.... You can come back in... A week, before we get to introduce it to you thoroughly." she said. 

"Thanks." Conner murmured with a smile and the elevator started moving.

"This is gonna be awkward." Tim muttered under his breath. Under normal circumstances, Conner shouldn't have been able to hear it, but he did. The realisation hit him hard but he kept it cool. After all, super hearing was a kryptonian power... And he was going to get kryptonian powers sooner or later.

The elevator door opened and lois led the way inside a giant room, the studio. All around the place were cameras and people dressed both formally and casually and others fixing the cameras and microphones. 

"This is the studio." Lois said and turned around to face the boys. "The Daily Planet television network is pretty recent compared to the rest of our works here... You gotta evolve with the times."

Conner nodded thoughtfully and scanned the area. He could see the camera man and a few people inside a closed room. "Reporters don't come here much, do they?" he asked.

Lois waved at a woman and then pushed them back into the elevator. Tim mumbled something incoherently, nagging for the tenth time that day. "Not unless you've been to a long- long mission." she said and pressed another level 

She forced them into the stairs and they climbed the stairs to get back to the twentieth floor. Conner held the door as the other two stepped inside.

Their office. While Conner was inspecting the place, Tim never took his eyes off his phone.

"Well. This is our working place." She said and pointed at the rest of the office. "The reporters type it out or look for scoops around here then they hit the--"

She was interrupted when a man with glasses hit her accidentally. He was wearing a blue coat and dark glasses. Thankfully, the coffee he was holding didn't spill on her.

His papers fell on the ground.

"Oh, sorry Lo. Didn't see you there." the man said as he kneeled down to pick them up. Some of them landed next to Conner so he tried to help the man pick them up, curiosity got the better of him and he tried to read them. "Clark Kent" he read the name out loud.

"That would be me." the man said with a smile and snatched the papers from Conners hands. "You have to wait until it's published to read it, Young man." he added with a laugh. "Who are these young Men, Lo?"

Lois pointed at the man. "Well. They wanted to see how the daily planet functioned... In case they were interested in journalism... Boys this is Clark Kent and, Clark this is--"

"Alexander." Conner interrupted, choosing his middle name as his allies. "And this is-- Jake."

Tim just gave him a confused look. Conner had no idea he was the one being played. Conner had no idea this couple's son had spent last night in Tims house, playing with his brother.

Clark fixed his papers. "Well. I guess, nice to meet you." Clark said with a smile. "Just keep in mind, if you want to be a journalist, make you sure you are bold enough to do so."

Conner chuckled. "Believe me, I think I am."

Clark nodded and went off. Eyeing Tim on his way. Tim just shrugged it off.

"Well kids," Lois said loudly to get their attention again. "I have a lot to show you and not enough time, let's get moving."

Conner and Tim followed her silently after that. Conner kept a close eye on everyone on the planet. Every single man in this area was a suspect he wasn't letting go easily.

======

Five hours later they were almost passed out from exhaustion. After a long lecture from Mercy about security, a longer phone call from Bruce Wayne and working on superman's secret identity for hours, they had the right to be tired. 

Both of them were lying on the coach and facing the roof. Silence settled between them. 

They spend hours talking about who from the daily planet might be superman. Tim spent every single minute telling him that his idea was not going to work. Conner believed the daily planet having all the stories on superman was too much of a coincidence. They managed to cross out every man that worked on the daily planet.

Every man.

Their list had ended and conner had angrily closed his notebook and threw it to the other side. 

After a few moments of blissful silence, Conner broke it.

"You are being uncharacteristically quiet today." Conner murmured and played with the pen in his hands.

"You know I think it's a useless search." Tim said with a sigh. "Besides, Bruce might come after me any moment and I'll be grounded for life."

Conner only laughed.

He stood up and picked up his notebook from the ground to look at the list again. Tim stood up too. "You aren't seriously doing this are you?" Tim asked, confused. "People better than us have tried and failed. We can never find out Superman's identity, Because he doesn't have one. Haven't you heard? He lives in the fortress and spends his days as Earth's champion-."

Conner looked directly at Tims eyes. "Then why does he always show up in metropolis? If he really is earth's champion, then why is he always in metropolis??" he asked.

"Don't know. Maybe he likes the weather. People are allowed to have a favorite city, Con."

Conner only hummed in response. Suddenly something clicked in his mind. Dad had said something about smallville once. He said he first met superman there.

"Oh-- I'm an idiot!" he said loudly. And searched through the notebook again. Whoever superman was, they were at smallville at some point of their lives. He jumped from happiness and clicked the right button on his watch. The holo-computer appeared and he entered the necessary codes for it to bring up all the data it could about Daily planet employees and smallville.

Tim took a step forward and grabbed his wrist, blocking the holo-computers screen. "What are you doing?" Tim hissed.

Conner didn't know why Tim was so hesitant and negative about finding out Superman's identity and he didn't care at this point. 

He broke his grip just in time for the computer to show the results.

Tim didn't stop complaining and discouraging him even now. With unbelievable anger he said: "Conner, stop! this research is destructive and isn't going to--"

There was only one name on the screen. Conner's eyes widened and he looked back at his best friend who seemed paler than usual. "Its Clark Kent!" Conner cheered happily. "Geez! She married superman. That's why they don't show public affection anymore."

Tim gave him a fake laugh. "Conner you're out of your mind. Have you met the man? Clark Kent can't be superman." he said and continued with his fake laugh. "He's shorter and..."

Conner smirked. "And what? Has glasses? They look exactly the same if you take out his glasses! Besides I can run facial recognition and it would give me the results." he said, opening the program and typing in the necessary codes.

"Conner don't--"

"Done." he said as he pressed enter. The program started running and gave him results in seconds. Conner turned the computer so that Tim could see the results too. "95 percent similarity. 95!"

Tim bit his lower lip. "I still think he's not superman. I mean look at him. Do you think he has the guts to be superman?" he said.

Conner threw the nearest object, which was his notebook, at Tim. "What is it with you today? You're just saying No." he shouted. Tim dodged the attack and the notebook hit the chair.

"I think you're... You're in denial." Tim said and leaned back on his chair. "You don't want to grieve for Lex for some reason and that's why you're doing all this, going after superman's civilian ID, which doesn't EXIST, so that you can pretend Lex is still alive and right around the corner."

Conner frowned and crossed his arms. "You're wrong." he said and stood up, the chair was thrown back. Conner walked over to the Windows, making sure Tim wont see his face. 

Conner wasn't an idiot, he knew he'd break down sooner or later. with tim over here it would be sooner rather than later. "You're wrong." he repeated. "He is still alive, we didn't find a body..."

"Conner I know it's hard to admit--"

"Yes- Yes you know." Conner spat and turned around to look at him. "When Bruce Wayne died. We had a damned body and you were head over heels in denial. Look how that turned out. Bruce came back out of nowhere! We live in a world where aliens and magic and ancient wizards are a thing! But me believing my dad is still alive is a crime?"

Tim was taken aback by the sudden outrage. Conner usually kept his bottled up so professionally, Tim thought he had lost the ability to feel anger. Conner turned his eyes back to the metropolis city view and took. One-Two- three deep breaths.

(Tim wanted to keep him in this track so hopefully, he'd forget about Clark Kent and superman.)

After a few minutes Tim stood next to him and put a comforting hand on the grieving boys shoulder. "You were there for me those hard days." Tim whispered. "I'll be here for you if you need me."

"Thanks, Tim." Conner murmured quietly.

"Come here." Tim slowly took him into a comforting hug. Conner returned it with a faint smile.

They were interrupted by Mercy who nonchalantly knocked, opened the door and said: "Mister pennyworth has come after Mr Drake-Wayne. And he said Mr Bruce wayne is mad beyond measure that you sneaked out of wayne manor without informing him."

Tim stilled. "I should really go." he said.

Conner chuckled. "I'll show you the way." 

They walked outside of the cursed office. Conner glanced back for a moment before closing the door behind him and locking it. He didn't want anybody else to figure what he had figured out tonight.

======

Somewhere around the world. An ancient soul looked at the screen with a fond smile. He was known to many as vandal savage, the fifty thousand year old tyrant.

Taking Luther out of the equation was one of the boldest in his new plans, but it was necessary. Now, he could access his resources. when everyone else was too busy with the mystery of what happened that night.

Vandal watched from surveillance cameras as Luther's trusted assistant, Mercy, pushed the boy inside the car and took him somewhere that not even they realised where it was.

If the boy hadn't slipped up, they never would have never found him.

"You want me to kidnap him?" Deathstroke said without taking his eyes off the screen. 

"Yes." Vandal said. "We need to get to the bottom of the only illness we know that can affect a Kryptonian, in order to drive the man of steel mad. And the key of it is this boy..." with a flick of his wrist, he turned the holograms off. 

Vandal looked at the mercenary. "Of course the light always has plans. We will recreate the illness and the famed superboy will die. Let's see how the precious justice league deals with an out of control man of steel."


	4. Oh, the places you will go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mercy insists they must lay low in smallville to avoid the person that was probably after Conner.
> 
> Conner does the opposite and visits a few strangers, who are technically his grandparents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! Thank you for keeping up with the story and leaving a kudos or a comment... These give me extra motivation!
> 
> *WARNING* the end of the chapter gets violent a little bit. Its nothing graphic but Deathstroke is a pretty ruthless mercenary... So be warned!

"This is ridiculous." Conner muttered to himself as they drove through the uneven roads of smallville. Mercy said nothing. From the window, He could only see green fields of corn farms and a few red buildings. The view was pleasing and somehow relaxing, but Conner didn't want to relax.

Mercy finally broke the silence. "Luther mansion isn't safe anymore." Mercy said simply. "We'll stay here for a few days until we find the person who was lurking in the shadows." she went back on her phone, arranging whatever they needed on their stay.

Conner looked out of the Windows again, not wanting to see her poker face again. He crossed his arms and laid back on the chair, eyes fixated on the fields around the road. He could see a few barns and a few colorful houses, far away from each other. Conner couldn't help but think how boring his life would be if he was born here. There was no amusement parks in sight or anything else that could keep someone like him busy.

Conner scuffed, he had never been to smallville but apparently thats where his father lived for a while in his youth. So it can't be that bad, can it?

The truth is, Conner was disapointed at himself. Figuring out supermans secret ID didn't help him at all. So In the last few days, he'd tried to find evidence to prove his father was alive. The absence of body was a big hope but other than that, he found nothing. 

Now, they had left metropolis. He couldn't do anything to prove his father was alive anymore. They left before he could even complete his research on superman. 

(Not that he knew what he was looking for exactly, but the search kept him busy.)

He muttered something to himself and held his hands closer to his body. If only he was a better detective, he might have picked up something before they had to leave metropolis and hide in smallville.

However, all his thoughts came to a halt when he saw a mail box. His normal vision suddenly zoomed in and he could clearly see the wooden structure of the barn and and what was written on the mail box with wornout paint. 

"Kents." he murmured in disbelief. He pressed his face against the window to watch it better. But They drove away, the sign was out of his zoomed vision as soon as it came. 

Conner turned around and realised his normal vision hadn't returned. He had a hard time turning his zoomed eyes back to normal. He covered his eyes with his hands and blinked a few times, in hopes of revoking the newfound kryptonian power.

Mercy didn't comment, which was both good and bad.

When he opened his eyes again, his vision was normal, it made a smile up his face. Now he knew what how he was going to waste time in smallville.

He wanted to get to know his grandparents.

========

Their house was more luxurious than he expected a safe house to be, but of course, they were Luthers. They never wanted to go hard on themselves.

Although he'd never been to smallville, His room here was almost identical to the one he had back home. Red sheets, anime posters, even his library was the same, filled with the exact same books. Mercy didn't leave anything unattended at all.

That was her way was wishing a good time for him and to ease his pain.

As much as conner appreciated the silent gesture, he had other plans he had to go through. He had to sneak out and somehow get to see the old couple. He decided to leave the house at sunset. In order to look convincing, he put on a strained hoodie and his old ripped jeans and a backpack. He knew sneaking out was out of the question, Mercy would definitely catch him. So he did the next best thing and informed her while walking out of the house.

Conner made his way to the garage. He took his time marveling at the old cars in it. They weren't antique but they weren't new cars either. Give them about thirty years or so and theyll be rare antiques. 

But for now, they were just old used cars that were supposed to go out of commission years ago.

Conner slowly slid his hands on a red Motorbike that looked like the most used. He didn't trust himself with the newer looking ones. He picked up a helmet, but He didn't have the chance to put them on. Before he could do that, he saw mercy standing infront of the garage door and blocking his way. Conner sighed loudly. "I'm going for a ride!" he said 

Mercy narrowed her eyes, not moving from the doors. "I'll come with you." she stated.

Conner just shrugged and hung his head low. "I just want to clear my head for a minute, I wont go far, just the neighbouring farms and don't worry, I still have this watch." he murmured and shook his left hand in the air to show the watch in his wrist.

The same watch that was a computer, an SOS signal and previously the blocker of his kryptonian superpowers.

A few seconds later. Mercy cleared the way for him to go with only a glare.

Happy, Conner put on his helmet and started the bike. The door of the garage opened and he stromed out without a second glance.

The change of air was immediate. Conner was suddenly filled with the feeling of freedom. He took a deep breath and went top gear. The sound of the engine somehow soothed his worries and The adrenaline rush was very welcome.

Can a human survive a carcrash as 100 mph? No, Not at all!

Can a half kryptonian survive a carcrash at 100 mph? Probably.

After a short ride in smallvilles night and not seeing one single human being, he narrowed his eyes and decided to start looking for the Kents. 

He tried to remember the roads they took this morning to get here. He went the opposite way until he found himself on the main road and driving a few extra miles than speed limit.

He narrowed his eyes and hoped it would trigger his zoomed vision once again. He tried to fucos on the first red barn. "Come on, Come on." he murmured. Conner blinked a few times and tried again, over and over again.

He shouldn't have taken his eyes off the road.

While he was busy trying yo trigger his zoomed vision, the bike slightly turned from its straight path and was going directly to an electricy post and Conner found out too late.

He screamed as he hit the post. Conner was thrown across the empty road and rolled over until he landed on the soft, wet soil under the corn corps. 

The motorcycle exploded, leaving behind only fire and a wreck.

Conner opened his eyes with a gasp. He examined his body with horror. He expected to find a few broken bones or a few permanent scars, but to his surprise, other than a slight shock, there was no pain stopping him from sitting up and looking at the mess he had just made in the middle of the road.

His kryptonian genes were working fine then. He owes his life to them. Any human would have died with the impact.

The motorcycle was burning and the wooden structure of the post was fallen to the ground. Thankfully, the fire cought none of the nearby fields. Conner could live through this day without being responsible for a fire outbreak.

Conner stood up, looking down at his completely uninjured body. His clothes were burned and tattered but underneeth them his skin was smooth and scarless as ever. "Well... This is new." he murmured quietly. He took off his helmet and stared at the mess he'd just made in the middle of nowhere. "Man, I hope that doesn't give smallville power outages." he murmured.

He turned around to see if there were anybody there. There weren't. Conner underestimated how tall corns really were. 

He crossed his arms. "Great." he murmured and watched the old motorcycle burn. "Im lost."

Suddenly, he felt like his ears were bleeding, an unbearable ache swam in his ears and he felt a loud "beeeep". Conner hissed in pain and pressed his hands to his ears. 

What was that?

The sound wouldn't stop. Conners mouth opened to scream but he stopped himself, he couldn't scream. He couldn't risk everyones attention.

He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the pain in his ears. He could hear things he was sure he wasn't supposed to. The sound of cows on the field, the sound of a dog hitting his tails to the wall. The sound of a high schooler nagging about his homework to his mother in metropolis. The sound of a football match in china.

All of it, at once. 

Conner was sure his ears would start bleeding at some point. He'd everything to have those blue kryptonites back and be done with these stupid powers.

"Are you alright boy?"

He could hear thousands of those words being said all over the continent, but this one was near him. He took a few deep breaths and noticed the pain was slowly fading away.

He opened his eye and saw an old man standing next to him. His flashlight was directly in Conners eyes. He tried to cover it with his hand. "Im ok." Conner murmured very very quietly, afraid he'd make too much noise.

The old man somehow heard him. "Is that your bike, young man?" he asked and pointed at the burnt rubble next to the electricity post. Conner pressed his lips together and nodded.

"I guess Im lost. But thanks for coming to check anyway." Conner said with an apologetic smile.

"Its Ok, I'm Jonathan Kent." the old man said. He turned off the flashlight and looked at the boy. They were almost the same height, Conner was a little taller. 

Conner couldn't believe his luck. This was absolutely the best chain of coincidences that has ever happened to him.

"Do ya have a name?" he asked when Conner was so lost in thought to answer properly.

Conner nodded. "Conner." he said, purposely leaving the Luther part of his name. People in smallville weren't exactly fund of the Luthers, never have been. If he was going to have the slightest chance of getting to know the other side of his DNA he had to keep the Luther name under the rug.

Jonathan Kent smiled down at the boy. "Well Conner, where are your parents? You're too young to be traveling on your own." he said as a matter of fact.

Conner looked away and crossed his arms. "My dad--Is missing and I don't have a mom." he answered shortly and truthfully.

For a moment, he decided to scrap the plan completely. The voices of doubt in his head wouldn't leave him alone. "What are you going to do with supermans parents?" he asked himself. "What if he shows up? What if he doesn't like it? I bet Mercy is searching all smallville looking for you right now. What if the same people who took dad come for them too. They are old--"

"Coward." a thought came in his mind.

Just when conner decided to shrugg Jonathan kents hand off his shoulder and walk back to Luthers mansion, Jonathans voice in the void.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is thar why you left of your house?" he asked.

Conner looked up at the man again. "Yes." he murmured. "My....guardian.... is a good woman its just... The house isn't just the same without him and I'm not going back there."

Jonathan Kent put both of his hands on the boys shoudler in comfort. "And Im not letting you be on your own in the middle of the night. You're not from around here."

Conner raised an eyebrow. "Sorry mister. But you're not my dad either." he said rudely. Technically, Jonathan could take him away. He had more authority over him than Mercy but Jonathan Kent didn't know it. Conner intended to keep it that way.

"No im not." Jonathan said. "But you need a place to stay in tonight and by taking a look at you, I know you're hungry. We have some pie. You know smallvilles pies are the best right?" 

Well, Conner couldn't say no to that could he?

"Ok." Conner murmured in defeat.

"Atta boy." Jonathan said and ruffled his hair. He pointed at the farm right across the corner, conner could see a house and a barn and a huge tracktor. He narrowed his eyes and suddenly he could see a woman standing outside of the house. His vision fucosed more and he could see the strawberry shapes on the womans cloths. 

It quickly went out of Conners control. 

His vision fucosed even more, now he could see the decorations in the house. He could see the paint on the walls like he was standing right in front of them. He could see the paterns of--

Conner closed his eyes and grabbed his head, he tried to stop his eyes from acting like a telescope.

"Conner, Conner, are you alright?" 

He had almost forgotten he was standing next to Jonathan. "No." he murmured. "I think I hit my head pretty hard." he was lying. 

Conner couldn't just walk around telling people he was supermans clone,or even a regular meta, not until he was absolutely sure of what he was doing.

"Then we better hurry"

The walk to the house was short. Conner kept his eyes closed at all times and Jonathon kept saying they should be taking him to a hospital. Conner refused and insisted it was nothing.

He only opened his eyes when Martha Kent's kind hands finished bandeging his head. And he looked at his grandmother for the first time.

He blinked a few times. And then his normal vision fucosed on the woman's face. "Hi." he said awkwardly. 

Martha really looked like Clark. They could have easily passed him as her and Jonathans son. She had the same shade of blue eyes and the same soft silky hair. And her smile was the most reassuring and welcoming gesture conner had seen since that fateful day his father disapeared. "He looks just like Clark." The woman said with a smile and ruffled his hair. 

Conner tried to straighten it again."So thats why supermans hair is always messy." he thought to himself. "His parents ruffle his hair at random."

"Welcome to our house, Conner." she said with a huge smile. "We had just set the table for some pie. Are you hungry?"

"Very." Conner murmured. And hopped off the seat in the living room. He followed the couple to the kitchen where the most cozy table ever was waiting for him.

The smell of freshly baked pie filled his nose. There was no sound bothering him, even with his newly acquired superheading, no voice was bothering him. The only extra sound he could hear was the old couples weak heartbeat which was somehow very grounding.

Martha put a third plate on the table and a huge piece of Pie for him. Conner ate it all in one go and decided this was the best dessert he had ever eaten.

He could stay here forever. In the comforting pressence of the old couple and their conversation about a neighbor's recent activities. They seemed like an open minded and cheerful couple. Conner wondered what his life would have been if he was raised with them.

Joyful.

Conner shook his head. No. the life he has had was a good one and he wasn't going to start daydreaming about impossibilities now.

The moment he finished his pie martha put another one for him. "You look like a skinny, lad. Do your parents feed you?" she asked with a frown.

"Uhm. Yes, actually." Conner said awkwardly. "I don't have a mom but my dad was pretty strict about my diet..."

Suddenly, Conner felt Jonathan's comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see the old couple looking at him with worried gazes. "What happened, Son?" Jonathan asked kindly.

Conner sighed heavily. "Can I stay here tonight? Just tonight?" he murmured, knowing the possibility of them saying "yes" was very narrow. Fortunately, the Kents exchanged a look and smiled.

"Yes, of course you can stay tonight. But we must know what happened?" Martha said with a comforting smile. "Does the police know?"

Conner nodded. "Someone attacked my dad. The police said he was stabbed to death but they never really found him...and as I said, I don't have a mum." he said, completely truthfully to his knowledge. The he opened his mouth to start the lie: "so my custody goes to my aunt. She is-- I just need sometime alone from her." he murmured quietly.

"Is there anything you want to tell us about the way she treats you?" Jonathan asked seriously.

Conner quickly shook his head, "No! No she just has her hands full about everything that happened to my dad and I really need sometime for myself. Her pressence isn't really welcome." he said.

"Then in that case... You have to call her and ask for her permission to stay here" Martha said simply and gave him another piece of pie.

"But--" 

"No buts. we will allow you to stay here overnight." martha said as he put a hand on his shoulder. "You have alot to process and taking a break from your house is probably good for you, but your aunt is worried sick by now. Call her. If she's from around here she'll know us certainly."

Conner swallowed and nodded firmly before standing up and going to the phone. He remebered Mercys number so he pressed the buttons. A few seconds later, Mercy answered.

"Mercy Graves." she said simply, her voice deep and harsh as usuall.

Conner swallowed. "Its me Conner." he said simply.

He could see the Kents watching him and listening to his conversation, he tried not to slip up. 

"If you allow me, I want to stay in the Kent's house tonight. They are very hospitable." he said as a matter of fact. Mercy didn't wait to respond: "Im coming after you."

He gripped the old phone tightly. "Mercy.... Please?" he murmured. "I'll be back tomarow morning. Please just this one night."

Mercy didn't answer from the other side of the line, conner thought she might already be on her way. He sighed heavily and decided to put the phone back in but a voice stopped him. "Just one night. I'll come for you in the morning." she said and ended the call. 

"Thanks!" he cheered and faked the rest of the call. "Ok, I'll be waiting. Bye-Bye." she said with a smile. He couldn't let the Kents know this wasn't actualy his aunt and just a cold cyborg assistant that was the only person his father trusted.

He never met his real Aunt Lena. She died of a rare illness years before Conner was born. The incident was the only time his father ever considered a real failure and never really talked about it.

He put down the phone and retuned to the table with the biggest smile on his face. "She said yes." he stated. 

"Very well. Jonathan, can you show him Clark's room? I think he can stay there and some of Clark's clothes might fit him." she said and collected the plates and put them in the sinks.

Martha pushed him up the stairs immediately. Conner tried to resist but the woman was too eager to show him around the house.

She showed him every single photo on the wall. Conner wanted to laugh outloud at the photos of Clark Kents childhood. Who knew this little baby was going to be superman one day. Martha Kent talked all about his sons achievements and the fact that he was a famous reporter in metropolis. Conner only gave her a patient smile and listened.

Martha continued to talk about her daughter-in-law as they progressed to the newer photos. She talked all about how fearless she was and what an amazing mother she is. 

Conner saw a whole wall dedicated to little Jons baby photos.

When the tour ended and they gave him a set of Clark's old clothes. They both went down to start cooking tomarows lunch. Conner offered to help but the old couple refused and said a guest never works in their house. 

So conner ended up in Clark's old room. A room with worn out blue paint and alot of drawings of characters Conner didn't recognize. He assumed they were from an old cartoon he'd never seen.

But when his eyes landed on thr mirror, everything changed.

He looked at himself for the first time in weeks since his fathers death and realised his auborn hair was getting darker. A few thousand black strands were now visible in the auborn ones. Worse, the roots were growing completely black, with barely any hint of auborn in them.

Conner pushed a hand through his hair and observed hismelf again. "What's happening?" he whispered quietly. He searched his face for any other changes but he found none. Only his hair.

The answer slipped into his mind quickly.

He freed the kryptonian part of his DNA by removing the blue kryptonite. Why was he angry that they were doing their job?

Conner looked away from the mirror and hoped with the depths of his heart, that it would stop. That his hair would stop changing colors somewhere near Brown. He was similar enough to superman already, he didn't want to risk anything else.

Unable to tolerate the room any longer. He found himself on the roof of the house, sitting crosslegged and looking at the stars. Thinking about what he had been doing with his life.

Removing the blue kryptonite looked like a good idea at the time, now, not so much. He was changing in ways he never thought he would and now look at him- he is staying with two complete strangers. Sure, they were his other DNA donors parents but they were still strangers.

He closed his eyes and tried to drown himself in the silence. It didn't work becouse his hearing had advanced too much to leave him in peace.

Which is how how heard Jonathan Kent climbing the ladder and opening a small window that was next to him.

"Nice night isn't it?" he asked, without ever pointing out that Conner was on the roof. Conner only nodded in response.

"I know you want to think but this is a pretty dangerous place to think." Jonathan pointed out.

"And exciting." Conner added. "I just wanted to see the stars without light pollution for the first time in my life." 

Conner looked at the clear sky again. He could see every star and evey sun with vision he'd never had before. It made him realise how small he was and how little time he had compared to the rest of these beings in the sky.

"What are you thinking about?"

"My dad." conner confessed quietly. "There is something I didn't tell you at the dinner." conner rested his chin on his palm. "His body was never found and I think he's alive and I don't have any proof. And.... I feel like Im somehow betraying him by the things I've done... Or rather... Didn't want to do"

"Like what?"

"I dont know... Accept my role as his son maybe? My father did many wrong things most of his life and now... Every one is judging me for it. Either people to be that great at something or that evil. Both of them are just wierd." Conner murmured and looked away. "And now... I'm alone. And I think... I think he might really be gone."

Jonathan rubbed his back. "Its ok to be in denial after a loved ones death." he said. "Conner, whoever your father was, he has his own legacy. He has you and the outcome of whatever he spend his life doing. You aren't obligated to follow it. You can, but you're your own man and you have your own life to live. Your dad isn't going to live your life for you. Your life is your choices."

"You remind me so much of my son, Clark." Jonathan murmured with a smile.

"Really?" conner whispered and raised an eyerbow.

"Except a very striking similarity in your faces... There is also this desire in you to free your wings and fly away. My son wanted to be an adventurous reporter, so he left for metropolis and achieved his dreams." Jonathan said as he stared at the stars.

Conner closed his eyes. "Do you think he'll be angry if I let go of searching for him?" he murmured. 

"No father wants his son to live in anguish... And to be honest, you don't have proof that he survived the attack. From what you told me he looks like the kind of father who would want you to live in the present, not the past."

Conner sighed loudly. 

Jonathan put a strick hand on his shoulder. "I think you should come back inside. It's getting cold." he said and almost pulled him to move.

Conner wasn't really feeling cold, but he didn't object and went back inside. They climbed down the ladder and Jonathan conceived him to go back to bed and sleep.

He followed him to the room and made sure he'd go inside and stay this time. Conner didn't know of he should feel like glad or annoyed. So instead, he decided to take the old man in a hug. 

He wasn't naive, he knew this night was probably the first and last one he was going to spend in his grandparents house. He was going to make the most of it. "Thanks Mr Kent." Conner said in the hug.

Lex Luther wasn't a huggy person, but Conner thought these people might be. He hugged the old man tighter becouse that was probably the only time he could ever hug his grandfather. "Its ok, boy." Jonathan murmured.

Conner broke the hug with a smile. 

"We wake up early I hope you are an early bird." Jonothan stated. 

Conner touched the back of his neck. "I think I can manage." he said with a shrugg. 

"Well then, Good night." Jonothan said and slowly left the room. 

"Good night, Mr Kent." conner murmured softly anf watched the old man walk down the stairs with ease.

To his surprise, he fell asleep The moment Conners head hit the soft pillows. It was the first time he was feeling peaceful in months.

======

Of course, this fragile peace was never meant to last. 

Conner shouldn't have left his house and took sanctuary in a house with little to no security. 

His superhearing was still a raw and uncontrolled power so he wasn't sueprised when he woke up to loud, rapid heartbeats of the Kents. Conner almost jumped out of the bed and raced downstairs. The sun hadn't even rised completely.

He thought he was dreaming when he heard footsteps downstairs. He wasn't. 

"Mr Kent? Mrs Kent?" he shouted as he ran downstairs and froze when he reached the kitchen. He was right, there was someone else in the room. Someone dressed in orange and black with an eyepatch. Someone he knew very well from his father's files.

Deathstroke.

Jonothan was passed out on the ground. Conner could hear his heartbeat so he was relieved, but Deathstroke was holding Martha tightly and kept a dagger to her neck. Conner almost gasped when he saw it.

"Rise and shine." Deathstroke mocked. "You're coming with me, rich boy."

Martha was too panicked to be surprised by his words. Conner narrowed his eyes and didn't say anything. He tried to find a way to get them out, but he couldn't. He wasn't fast enough, strong enough or good enough to fight Deathstroke and win. His hands were tied. 

"Ok then." Deathstroke hissed and slowly pointed at the dagger as he slowly neared it to the old woman.

Conner felt panic rise up in his chest. "No!" Conner shouted, his hands started shaking. "Who are you? What do you want from me? Let them go." 

Conner knew perfectly well who he was. Deathstroke, the mercenary currently working for the light. He was surprised they were still alive.

There was no way he was going to let this madman take this family away from him. He'd just gotten to know them for goodness sake. 

"Handcuff yourself with this-- or else." deathstroke murmured with his other hand, he tossed him a pair of metal handcuffs with small green buttons around them. It landed under his feet next to a knife. Conner quickly realised they were green kryptonite, the same type he injured himself with not so long ago. It fell on the floor right next to his feet and Conner stared at it fearfully, he could feel the sting of it even without putting them on.

"Now." Deathstroke threatened.

Conner knelt down, he picked up the handcuffs and snapped it around his hands. To his surprise, there was no mind numbing pain, he felt like he was hit with a small needle. The pain wasn't at all comparable to the first time he touched kryptonite.

Was he getting immune? he certainly hoped so. 

With new found confidence, he quickly picked up a meat knife on the ground and held to close to his own throat, with the kryptonite on his hands, he could really injure himself enough to convince detahstroke to let the woman go. Deathstrokes one eye narrowed and he mumbled incoherently.

"You're ordered to take me alive" Conner said as a matter of fact. "If you weren't you would've just shot me with that fancy gun of yours. So let go of this couple, or I'll strike first."

"You wouldn't. You're a Luther." Deathstroke mumbled but the knife slowly went further from the womans thraot.

Marthas eyes widened. "Luther? You're lex luthers boy?" she asked.

Conner could look at her eyes anymore, for the first time in his life he was ashamed to be carrying that name. He pulled his act back together and pushed the knife slightly upwards.

Deathstroke was that easily fooled.

He pushed the woman away and martha fell down, Conner threw the knife to the other side and ran to sit next to the now  
unconscious woman, he quickly checked for a heartbeat and found one.

He didn't have enough time, though. Deathstroke grabbed him from the back of his collar and pulled him away.

He dragged Conner outside of the house. And threw him on the motorcycle. Conner wiped away the trail of blood that was coming from his nose becouse of the impact. He didn't know what to do. Deathstroke was going to take him and the Kents really need someone to tend to them now or esle--

Superman!

He had a more advanced super hearing so he could hear him right? He just had to find the words that will get his attention in the million voices he hears at a time. Conner gathered whatever strength he had left and shouted: "HELP! THE KENTS HOUSE WAS ATTACKED!"

And he was rewarded with a slap to the face.

"Who are you shouting at? Nobody lives near enough to hear you." Deathstroke said.

Conner spat out the blood that was gathered in his mouth and tried to hide his smirk. Superman might not get here soon enough to save Conner but at least the couple with live on happily.

Deathstroke started the bike. Deathstroke hit the road in seconds.


	5. A lonely place to live

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conner was taken captive. he freed himself, but then he was captured again.

Conner looked back, the Kent farm was slowly getting out of his vision. Deathstroke was going fast, not taking any chances. But just as the house was disappearing from view, he saw a blue and red dot approach the house.

"Superman" he thought to himself with a smile. Now he had to find a way to free himself, and fast.

He looked at his watch. Mercy had hidden a small needle there, just in case. But the problem is, Conner never really listened when Mercy was giving safety instructions. He searched his watch for a safety button and found it, when he pressed it, a small needle came out of it. A smile touched Conner's face.

"Why are you kidnapping me??" he asked, putting too much emotion in his voice to direct Deathstroke attention to the conversation rather than the clicking sound he made while trying to free himself from the handcuffs.

"For the money, Boy. Someone is giving me a huge amount to have you... Well... Someones." he said.

"Wait- wait- wait- you're not going to take ransom??" Conner asked nervously. "I'm pretty sure I can pay you more than they are."

"You don't have your dad's riches yet, Boy." he said bitterly.

"I do I do I do. Just name the money and let me go."

Deathstroke hummed. "You better write me a fat check of 5 million dollars."

The handcuffs clicked open and Conner soundlessly threw them on the road. "Good point but on second thought." he murmured and closed his eyes. "Nah."

He jumped out of the motorbike. The impact was severe but his newfound kryptonian abilities gave him the strength to stand on his feet immediately, he ran back in the opposite direction as fast as he could, which turned out to be very fast.

But of course, a mercenary's bike was faster.

"Help!!! Help!! Deathstrokes after me!" he shouted, hoping superman cared enough to come after him.

Which he did.

Before Deathstroke could reach him with his bike. Conner was swooped out of the road by strong arms. It happened so fast Conner could only register a faint brush of red and blue. And he was suddenly in the air.

Superman was holding him up. He slowly lowered himself and conner down, never breaking eye contact with the mercenary. Superman put him down and stared at Deathstroke's face. Conner decided to stand behind Superman. "Leave, before I lose my patience." superman said.

Conner genuinely hoped that cuff was the only piece of kryptonite Deathstroke had, or else they'd be in serious trouble.

It turned out, his worries were wrong when Deathstroke turned around. "You can't protect the boy from the sins of his father forever, big blue boy scout. And I know you don't want to." he said and stormed off. All that was left of him, was dust.

Superman sighed heavily. "Now you have so much explaining to-" he turned around to see Conner is nowhere to be seen. "--Do." he finished and turned on his X-Ray vision to find Conner frantically running back to the Kent house.

"Mr Kent! Mrs Kent!" he shouted, fighting himself and stopping himself from calling them Ma and Pa. he jumped inside the house to find the two alive and well, sitting behind the kitchen table, looking profoundly shocked.

He stopped in his tracks and looked at their injured faces. Iron hands of guilt gripped his throat and stopped him from breathing. Conner looked down. "I'm sorry." he blurted out and covered his eyes with his hands. "Im so sorry. I shouldn't have come here. But I swear! I didn't know someone was really after me or I would have never left Luthers mansion." he whispered again. "I know you might want me to leave now... I'll just... Thanks for the pie." he said and wanted to go out but the old couples voice stopped him.

"It's ok, boy." Jonathan Kent murmured.

"We're not mad," Martha Kent concluded. " it wasn't your fault that a crazy madman was after you."

Conner smiled fundly. although confused at why the old couple seemed so calm, he was happy they weren't angry. But his smile fell when his super hearing picked up on the conversation outside. One between Batman and superman.

"What should I do with him, Batman." he asked through the com link in his ear.

"Bring him to the watchtower." Batman said simply. "I'll take care of him."

"But Batman, is it really good to bring Luther to the base?"

"Bring him in superman, it's better than the alternative."

Conners Blood ran cold. He kneeled down and took both of them in a fierce hug. "Thanks for having me." he murmured. Martha and Jonathon, both, returned the hug and almost crushed him with their welcome warmth.

Conner closed his eyes and let them go. He raced for the back door. Trying to escape the house as soundlessly as possible. He glanced one last time at the old couple and tried to remember their faces. They gave him a smile as goodbye and Conner took off.

He opened the back door and threw himself in the Corn crops. He had the advantage of a few minutes headstart, hopefully he could get away and reach Luther mansion in time, Or find Mercy in time. He pressed the SOS button in his watch one more time. Maybe Deathstroke had some sort of blocker on his bike that Mercy wasn't already in his location.

He picked up his speed. The corn and the leaves pressed against his skin and if he wasn't half kryptonian, it definitely would have left a bruise. The feeling was still unwelcome, but he couldn't slow down.

There was a sudden buzz in his ear. Conner ignored it at first. But the buzz kept growing louder and louder in his ear to the point he was almost sure his ears were bleeding.

He kept running, never stopping. He didn't want to end up in justice league headquarters somewhere in the world.

The buzz grew louder and he grabbed his ears. Either someone was deliberately making that sound or that his super hearing was malfunctioning, conner would bet his money on the later.

He grabbed his ears and his running was reduced to a halt.

After a sudden outburst, the buzzing was too much to bear. it was everything he could feel and everything he could sense. He screamed out loud. Absent minded, he fell on a rock and hit the muddy ground. The buzzing died a little and he could breathe easily. His chest was aching at this point, he didn't even know he was holding his breath.

Conner didn't care about superman anymore, he kept his hands firmly to his ears and couldn't stop panting. The buzzing came back with a vengeance and Conner almost crashed his own head in his hands trying to block the sound.

He never knew why his super hearing malfunctioned that day.

He was at the verge of unconsciousness when superman found him. A moment later he felt lighter, the buzzing was suddenly gone which left him hollow and satisfied and grateful for not hearing anything. He felt weightless.

He didn't put up a fight when superman teleported them to the watchtower, he was too tired to struggle.

=======

"Let me go, now." Conner demanded angrily.

Superman brought him straight to the watchtower. The JLs secret headquarters that was outed by the Reach invaders a while back. No one had access to it and Conner knew he was going to be stuck there for a while.

"No." Batman said with his deep, raspy voice. The voice was intended to scare him off but he was Luther, things like this weren't going to scare him.

"Let me go." he repeated. "You have no right to keep me here so let me go."

"No."

"Let me go."

Batman narrowed his eyes. "I said No. You will remain in league custody until or unless the situation is handled." he said angrily. "This is not up for debate."

"You've literally kidnapped me!" Conner shouted at him.

"You are a target of the light and any target of the light is suspicious and a clue to their next plan so you will stay here." Batman said with his angry voice. "This is going to be your room for the next few days."

The room was more like a holding cell which he had the keys for. It was a square cube big enough for a bed and a table. It was a room in a floating satellite.

"Oh, so very generous of you. Bare necessities for a prisoner." Conner said and frowned.

Batman turned around and left the room. "Deal with it. You're not leaving this satellite until this case is done, Luther." he said and the door closed behind him. From the green lamp on the door he could guess that the door was open but he was still a prisoner nonetheless.

Good thing he had his notebook at least.

Conner gently put the notebook on the table and tried to calm the madly beating heart in his chest with a few deep breaths. But the anger was stronger than he'd ever experienced. It was filled with the need for a physical outlet for someone to shout at.

He gritted his teeth and punched the pillow on the bed with all his might one-two-three times. The pillow had a whole in it on the first try.

=====

When he finally found the energy and motivation to come out of his room. He realised that satellite had only a few places he could access. A main womb which had teleporters and the main computers, justice league meeting room, hall of the fallen and the garage.

To his surprise the garage was empty. He saw nothing but when he hit something solid with his head and fell down, he remembered all the stories about Wonder Woman's invisible Jet.

When he stood up again he could only marvel at the wondrous jet. "Girl, what are you made of?" Conner murmured as he tried to trace it and find the wings and the cabin with his hands. When he heard footsteps approaching, he quickly left the room.

The main womb was pleasantly boring. It had the most magnificent views and that was what almost gave Conner a heart attack.

They were in space.

They were really in space.

In space!!

And that was the earth he was seeing under his feet. Conner couldn't stop himself from touching the glass walls and panicking a little over its possible chance of breaking and sucking them all into space.

"I'm telling you man! Black lightning is the best mentor ever!"

He turned around to see a whole group of newcomers. That must be the Justice league's covert team. Conner narrowed his eyes. His father wasn't very fond of them. He always said that the league recruited children to do their dirty work and that was unacceptable. He became eye to eye with a few of them and wasn't surprised when they turned around and kept their distance, acting like he didn't exist. Shortly after, The "team" was gathering in the main hall patiently waiting for the white Martian to come in.

"Hi, is everything ok?"

Conner was thrown out of his thoughts with those words. He turned around to see a girl in purple standing next to him with open arms. There was another girl in total black, a blonde girl and another Boy in yellow standing behind her.

"Yeah, Uhm... Conner Luther." he said and offered a hand for a handshake---

\---Which she accepted! "You haven't heard of us probably but Im spoiler. This is orphan, Wondergirl and kid flash." she said introducing them one by one. Conner nodded and tried to smile at them. Wondergirl said "what's up?" in a very cool manner.

Conner smiled at orphan. "I have heard of you." he said truthfully. "I have a friend who was very eager about superheros. I know you and orphan at least."

" **Team report to the mission room.** "

Bart sighed loudly. "Duty calls." he said and was gone in a flash of an eye. The rest said their goodbyes and left. Conner was touched by the welcoming manner of these four. When those four gathered next to the computer and waited for their leader. The rest came in and gave him an annoyed look before heading their way.

Every single being in the area ignored him. Conner was very tempted to push the girl with 13 on her chest, to get some attention from the group, see if they could talk. Of course, he didn't and The rest kept their minimum 12 feet distance like he had the plague or something.

Evil genes, sure he had those. But the greatest heros on the planet sure knew it wasn't contagious, didn't they?

Like he sensed his discomfort, Kid Flash left Wondergirls side to talk to him. He didn't have much to say except: "Sorry about everything."

Conner raised an eyebrow. Nothing about kid flash's blue eyes and brown hair was familiar but he talked like they knew each other in another lifetime. "What are you sorry for?" he murmured.

"You know. The league the light. The unpleasant welcome." kid flash blurted out. "They don't know you yet, they'll like you when they really see who you are."

Conner chuckled. "I'm not going to stick around that long." he said with a shrug.

"Team- report to the mission room." the sound echoed in the hall.

Kid flash gave him a salute and smiled. "That's my queue, see you later mistah Luther." he said. Kid flash was gone in an instant.

Conner couldn't stand there and receive different glares from different team members, so he held his notebook tightly to his chest and followed the trail of green bushes around the watchtower.

Conner never received a proper tour of the watchtower and his acces was extremely restricted, but he could see where he could go. So be followed the pattern of where the bushes were planted in special pots.

He followed along. Soon, he couldn't hear The Martian talking. All he saw was a long long hallway in front of him and a narrow garden where the bushes were planted.

He reached a turn. So he went left.

His mouth dropped when he realised he'd made way to a new section. "Hall of the fallen." he read out loud. And stepped inside.

Gone was the metal ground. Instead there was soil under his feet.

Actual soil and grass.

If Conner didn't have a reputation to uphold, he would have laid down and just enjoyed the feeling of the earth under his body and actual grass.

He couldn't do that infront of countless security cameras around here, so he just took one step after another, determined to see who these fallen people were.

The garden was a heaven. The way the league was able to make fully grown trees in the middle of space was a mystery to him. Tall oak trees decorated the place and in front of him was a full view of the planet earth.

"I can't stay in here forever." He murmured.

His eyes slowly recognized the presence of four holographic statues. "Hello fallen people." he murmured as he crossed the first two. He stopped for a moment to glance at the fourth statue, the famous fallen robin.

Tim couldn't shut up about him after the news of his evident death hit the internet. Conner took out his phone and took a selfie. "Tim would love it." he murmured to himself as he put his phone back in his pocket.

He passed the next one and it was the previous Kid flash. He knew all about the spandex wearing speedster. The ginger who saved the planet earth from the reach and took Zero credit for it.

(Conner was there that day. He was hiding behind the doors and listening closely to what his father was saying to the justice league. It was a miracle they could create the anti-reach software in time. Conner had never seen his father so... Regretful...  
Before and when Kid Flash died, Dad allowed him to have a superhero inspired T-shirt for the first time in Kid flashes colors.)

Conner took out his notebook and opened a new page. He tried his best to draw flowers. His black and white amatour drawing was all he could do at the moment. He ripped the page and put it on the surface of the hologram. "Thanks." he'd written underneath.

Conner closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It must be hard for anyone to come here. Conner continued to walk to the glass windows and opened his eyes.

The earth was in front of him. He smiled and tried to commit the scene to memory. Of course, if he ever developed flight at the same level as superman, He can have this scene any time he wants but he doubt he'd be that lucky.

Conner closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Beautiful view, huh?"

Conner almost jumped a few feet back, the impact would have outed him as a meta instantly, but Conner was self controlled enough to just flinch at the new sound. Conner turned around to see a boy in red and black custom coming at him with a weak smile.

Conner narrowed his eyes and looked back at the astounding view. "And who are you supposed to be? Black bird?" he said, eyeing the other boy's reflection on the windows.

The boy seemed hurt. His mind circled with information he could take on the new vigilante. He recognised the sign as a member of the batclan. He was about an inch smaller than him. The cowl looked like it was aging him a few decades, but he couldn't be much older than Conner.

"Come on, Luther... You can do better than that." he told himself but without looking directly at him, this was all he could get.

The boy bit his lower lip and came forward and stopped about three feet away from him. "It's Red Robin actually." he said confidently and brought his hand forward for a handshake.

Conner turned around and decided not to spoil his luck. He accepted the handshake. "Conner Luther... But you already knew that." he said, completely unamused. Something about red robins posture was extremely familiar, the truth is he'd shaked hands thousands of times with this boy already, he just didn't know that.

"I know you're playing good cop, bad cop with Batman... I'm not being fooled." he said politely. "And for the last time... I have no idea about what's happening."

Red robin seemed utterly surprised at my words. He mumbled something under his breath before he let go of my hand. "I just thought you were alone up here. It gets... Lonely... Especially if you are new here."

Conner raised an eyebrow. "You've been stuck here before?" he asked, surprised.

"More times than I can count." red robin said with a smile. "You're not the first person that secretly went under league custody, and you won't be the last."

Conner chuckled slightly, he hit his back to the glass and slid down, sitting on the ground, not caring if red robin was watching. "Good to know." he murmured.

Red Robin sat down beside him.

Conner didn't say anything. He didn't take his eyes off the robin statue. A smile crept up his face. "My friend would have loved this place."

"Pardon?"

"My friend." Conner murmured, finally eyeing the vigilante. "His name is Tim... He was a fan... And he was kind of devastated when the second Robin died."

Red robin's face showed no emotion as he hummed. "It was hard on all of us." Red Robin murmured.

Conner didn't try to start a conversation after that.

Shortly after, Red Robin was called to a briefing and Conner was left all alone. In his own thoughts.

===

When Conner was done being alone in the hall of the fallen, he picked up his notebook and made his way to his room.

He passed a few leaguers and team members and thankfully none of them said a word, they passed silently and Conner couldn't be happier about that. He needed to sleep and he needed it NOW.

But of course, he never gets things easily.

Robin and Superboy were waiting outside of his room. He expected Robin to sneak inside his room and scare him to death, But there they were.

Robin was toying with his batarang and Superboy was watching him, clearly lost in thought. If Conner was anyone else he wouldn't have the small spark in Superboys eyes, but unfortunately his father had described that same spark in Conners own eyes when he was fond of someone. Conner shook his head and decided to unsee that in the private of his own mind. However, They spotted him the moment he was there. Conner just blinked at them, not knowing what to do.

It was nice seeing the boys again. Freeing them from cadmus was one of his most intelligent choices he ever made. Now in the light of what he knew, it just felt awkward.

Who was he to this boy... He was technically his brother, right?

Robin was the first one to speak: "Superboy thought it was our duty or something... To see if you were doing alright, it's ridiculous in my opinion but whatever. I have more pressing matters to do." he shrugged and turned around, making his way to the exit.

Conner watched as the other boy made his way out. "Is he always this friendly." he asked superboy... Or should he think of him as Jon?

Superboy chuckled. "Pretty much." he said with a laugh. "You should see him with his countless siblings."

Conner smiled. "Let me guess. He's the youngest."

"Yup." superboy murmured emphasizing on the P.

Suddenly the little one went serious, his smile dropped and he opened his mouth to speak. "I know you freed us from cadmus... But I'm sorry I can't return the favor."

Conner smiled and ruffled the boys hair. He seemed surprised at the act but didn't say anything in protest. "Its Ok, Superboy." he murmured. "It's totally ok. I understand."

Superboy raised an eyebrow. "You know, I wanted to come and make friends with you after the cadmus incident... But Dad always said I must keep my distance with you because you might succumb to your evil genes.... You don't look like lex luthor.... You don't even act like him! What makes you so dangerous?"

Conner stilled and glared at the boy in front of him. Superboy was thirteen. He still couldn't filter his mouth properly. Conner understood that. But the question actually hurt to some degree.

Superboy wasn't dumb. He realised he had crossed a line. He awkwardly touched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Sorry. I didn't mean that." he murmured, not daring to meet his eyes.

Conner crossed his arms. "Too much too fast little man." he said with a frown.

Superboy took a step back. "I-- I have to go now... I have to do some stuff in our hideout... Robin is waiting... So- Uhm... See you around!" he said and dashed backwards. He was gone in a moment.

Conner wondered if he could reach that speed too. Probably. If he was in an embarrassing situation.

"Like if I said mee-mees instead of memes." he thought with a fond smile.

Slowly a thought started forming in his mind. Superboy fled to their hideout. Superman had a hideout which was publicly known but nobody knew where it was.

Nobody except the justice league of course.

A sly smirk crept up his face. For the first time he was brought to the watchtower he had something to do. He sat behind the table and took out his notebook.

The watchtower was occupied with the team and the leaguers until 10.pm. Where either the team was dismissed or they were on missions. The league would start their monitor duty.

The watchtower only had one leaguer at a time. Conner prayed with all his heart it wasn't going to be batman.

Last night, Conner saw a flaw in their system. When they wanted to shift, there was a fifteen minute time difference between the time the current leaguer left and the next one appeared. 15 minutes he could exploit.

He started writing down all he had to do which was four simple steps.

1\. Get to the main computer, hack it with the holo-computer in his watch.

2\. Set the destinations of the teleporters to the fortress of solitude.

3\. Get whatever information he could get on Krypton.

4\. Be back by the next shift, so hopefully no will know he is gone and hope Batman doesn't find out.

The plan was flawed, but at least he had something to do. He looked at his watch and pressed the right button. The holo computer flared to life and he started searching for his father's ultimate code. The code to hack any computer it came across. Once activated, he only had to connect it to the Main computer of the justice league and boom! First step complete.

He yawned. He still had three hours until his plan would go into motion and he was absolutely bored.

Conner went to the bed. He really had to take a nap, or else he'd fall asleep in the fortress.

==

The fact that he actually woke up on time was surprising.

The fact that the flash was late on monitor duty was even stranger, not that he was going to complain about it.

It took more than he anticipated to hack the justice league computers but soon he was an admin by the alias of G-01 and gave himself access to places like the fortress of solitude and the batcave. The temptation of choosing the batcave was strong but he pulled through.

Soon he was standing on the platform. The zata tubes started working. the machines started spinning around him and suddenly Conner started regretting all of his life choices, but it was too late to back out now. He closed his eyes.

The weightlessness returned and suddenly, with the blink of an eye, he was somewhere else.

He felt the ice on his skin, the weather was ice cold and his breath caught in his throat. "Where is this place?" he murmured.

Conner knew it was cold. Freezing even. But he didn't feel cold, not like he normally did. So his kryptonian genes were kicking in then.

Slowly, Conner opened his eyes and was memorized by what he saw. The entire building was made from ice, even the computers were made of ice and crystal. He stepped off the platform and turned around to see everything that was there.

The fortress was superb. He could see three separate rooms. One had weird pods, the other had countless crystal shards and the other was something like a computer. There were also a few doors, but Conner couldn't risk opening them and triggering some sort of security response.

Conner couldn't believe his eyes. He was actually there. In the fortress. The fortress of solitude! Superman's secret home! He was there, walking in there, jumping in there, he didn't even know where he was.

He could be in the alps, Or the south pole, or the north pole. He honestly had no idea.

He left the teleprompters and turned around to see the place up close. The crystal chambers quickly got his attention. The questions in his mind wouldn't stop. He pressed his hand against a large piece of crystal and removed it from its place. He inspected it with his hands. There was no craving for it. Nothing he could see at least.

He looked around and saw a similar thing to the crystal was in a pod near something like a screen. He looked at it again with a frown. "Is this a kryptonian version of a CD?" he asked loudly.

The silence didn't answer him.

He debated with himself whether he should try putting this one next to the computer or not.

His eyes slowly picked up his own reflection on the crystal. He wasn't surprised to see his auburn hair completely gone. He swallowed and saw his reflection once again. His eyes were still green, thank god. But his hair was jet black. If anyone saw him from the outside, they would think he had dyed his hair.

Conner closed his eyes and decided to take changes. He was here, he might as well use the opportunities.

Conner slowly walked to the screen. The sound of his footsteps were the only thing he could hear. Conner slowly put the crystal in its place.

The moment the crystal touched the pod, there was a hologram behind him. Conner stilled and didn't dare move when he saw the reflection of someone very similar to superman.

He wanted to flee but suddenly there were several weapons pointed at him, all pointing lasers at his chest, what a lovely way to die. "Hi?" he said with an awkward smile and raised both of his arms.

"I am Jor-El. Who are you and how did you come here." the man said with no sign of friendliness.

Conner shrugged half heartedly. "That's a very long--"

"Identify yourself now." Jor-El interrupted calmly. "You have not been recognized, Identify yourself now."

Conner opened his mouth to speak but a laser was pointed directly at his heart a moment later. He was frozen in fear for his life when the laser intensified and its icy structure went red in color. "Please don't kill me, I didn't do anything!" he blurted out. Jor-el's stoic face remained unamused.

A sound of "beep" echoed through the silence, Conner flinched at the sound but Jor-el merely looked at the computer screen. Conner averted his gaze at the transparent screen and realised all the marks were in kryptonian.

So much for all those days he spent learning a new language. "See dad, it was useless." he muttered quietly.

Jor-el raised an eyebrow. "It seems you have a lot of explaining to do." he said, completely unamused.

Conner awkwardly crossed his arms. "I have no idea what you are talking about." he murmured and looked away from the AI.

"It seems I have two grand-sons. Why has Kal-El never told me about you? Who is your mother?"

Conner blinked a few times and stared at the hologram. There was no point in denying it now because what Jor-El did was definitely some sort of DNA test. He sighed loudly. His fake proud posture slumped and he touched the back of his neck. "Can you please go back to threatening me with a laser beam?" he murmured pathetically.

"That laser would have never hurted your half-kryptonian physiology. It was intended for nossy humans." Jor-El said and darted forward. Conner almost jumped back at the speed of his so-called grandfather.

Jor-el was close. Too close for Conners comfort. Their eyes were maybe two inches apart and he had no idea what the AI was up to. At this point, It couldn't be anything good. "You are a clone." he said, no evident emotion in his voice. "You have more connection to kryptonians' way of procreation than you might think."

Conner chuckled and politely took a step back. "Nah... I'm pretty sure you wouldn't say that if you knew the whole story." he said as a matter of fact. "Genetically speaking I have two fathers who never got along with each other. technically I'm doomed now that my dad is missing."

Jor-El's face betrayed no emotion as he listened to Conner speak. "You have Lara's eyes." he said with a smile. "Green eyes was one of the rarest on krypton."

Conner blinked a few times. He touched the back of his neck awkwardly. "I-- Uh... Thanks?" he murmured. "Technically it's my dad's."

"Kal-El's eyes are blue." Jor-El said as a matter of fact.

Conner felt english words were failing him again. "Oh... The other one. You know-- Lex Luther this high, bold, everyone calls him evil, but He's a pretty good person if you ask me." he explained.

"I see." Jor-El said shortly.

Suddenly Jor-El was gone. Conner wanted to turn around but then he felt something on his right arm. He looked down to see a needle made of crystal, half of which was inside his arm, and Jor-El looking down at it carefully.

Conner immediately felt dizzy. He wanted to hold something to keep himself standing but the feeling of dizziness was too overwhelming. He fell into Jor-Els arms and the last thing he heard was Jor-El's calm words: "Relax."

~~

Conner woke up with a gasp to find himself laying on what looked like a sacrificial altar. Nothing was holding him down or pinned to him but he felt extremely weak. His eyes darted around the room to Find Jor-El standing next to the computer, very pleased with himself.

"Warn me again next time." he shouted angrily as he tried to stand on his feet.

"You wouldn't have allowed me to examine you otherwise." Jor-El said calmly.

"Like hell." Conner murmured. "I wouldn't have! I was here to take information-- not leave information, especially about myself."

"Your life signature is already a part of the database as well as your existence." Jor-El said with a smirk. "You are a healthy young Hybrid I see. But I see severe signs of high exposure to blue kryptonite, which resulted in your half-functioning powers. Don't worry, it's effect will be gone in three weeks."

Conner just frowned at him. "Good to know."

That... Was actually pretty good news.

"So tell me child, why were you here and why must not Kal-El know about you." Jor asked kindly and stood next to the altar.

Conner touched the back of his head. "It's complicated." he murmured. "About my creation-- my grandfather stole supermans, or should I say Kal's, DNA and created me to be a weapon but my Dad, Lex Luther, found me and decided to go against whatever they had planned."

Jor nodded and didn't say any mean comment which was a good sign.

"My dad was attacked and is currently missing. I recently learned that I share DNA with superman and dad kept it a secret from me and everyone else all these years because he was afraid of how the JL would react to someone like me. They could take me away from him. They still will if they find out."

Jor Nodded again. "Your "Dads" reasons are respectable." he said finally. "I will leave the choice of this revelation to you, Conner."

Conner took a deep breath. "Thanks, you have no idea how much that means to me." he said with a smile. "I'm actually here to get an answer. I want to know how Kryptonian would treat people like me" he said. "And I think I have a few hours--"

Conner looked at his clock and panicked. He had exactly five minutes until the next point he could sneak back inside the watchtower. How long was he out for?

"Nevermind, Uhm... Can you tell me about Krypton's traditions in-- five minutes?" Conner murmured. "I'd love to stick around but I really can't. It's a miracle the justice league hadn't found out about me yet."

Jor-Els hologram appeared right in front of him again. "Rao. Why are you in such a rush?"

Conner shook his head. "Hopefully the league doesn't know Im here and I like to keep it that way!" he blurted out.

He looked for his notebook and found it on the ground, he picked it up and looked at Jor-El once again. He could make an escape for the watchtower easily.

"Look... Uhm... It was nice talking to you." he said with a fake smile as he picked up his notebook and pencils and frantically shoved them into his bag. "But I really gotta go now before the big blue shows up--"

"That is no way to address your father." Jor-El interrupted. Conner gave him a confused look before the reality came crashing down on him again for the tenth time.

"Yeah, right- Okay- before Kal-El shows up." he corrected. Conner knew Jor-El meant for him to use some formal title while addressing his other biological parents but that's the furthest Conner was willing to go right now. "I need to ask you for a favor."

"Name it, Conner Luther."

The word Conner Luther sounded like Jor-El was genuinely disgusted by calling him that. Conner paid him no mind, he was lex luthor's son. He could negotiate.

"Don't tell Kal-el I was here today or ever." he said confidently. "And I'm never going to him. But it was nice meeting you!."

"But Kal-El is--"

"-- mY FaThEr, I know." he insisted. "But you forget Lex luther is my other dad. He won't like this new information and think I have somehow hacked you to say that to him. He's just that paranoid when it comes to Lex Luther."

Conner slowly walked backwards, never taking his eyes off Jor-El. "Well thanks. For everything. Mister Jor-El from krypton it was nice knowing you! See ya later. Thanks for keeping this a secret--" his back hit something solid and he fell on the impact.

He turned around to see the last person he wanted to see. Superman was standing, arms crossed and frowning down at him. His posture screamed annoyance and anger, Conner had no hope of running away now.

"Going somewhere?" he asked.

Conner was screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! That was a long chapter. Let me know what you think in the comments. <3


	6. Hey brother, do we still believe in one another?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conner starts to realise he's ready to sacrifice his secret if it means the well-being of people who don't even know him.
> 
> Yeah, his father would NOT be proud.

"What were you doing?" 

Superman's question hung in the air around them. Conner never broke their eye contact and superman was too angry to step down from their stare down fight.

"What were you doing?" Superman asked angrily.

Conner shrugged with a mocking smirk. "Just exploring I guess, Jor-El here was generous enough to give me a tour." Conner murmured, trying to lighten the mood.

Superman turned to the completely expressionless AI. "Father! What is happening here?" he asked angrily.

Jor-El looked down. "It is his story to tell, not mine." he said and disappeared.

Superman's eyes widened and stared back at the teenaged boy. "Did you hack him?" he asked.

Conner raised an eyebrow. "No, of course not. I don't know kryptonian, Do I?" He murmured.

Silence settled between them. Conner refused to talk and Superman was visibly losing his patience.

Not wanting to anger the man of steel any further, Conner raised his arms in surrender and readied his lies, "I admit. I was curious." Conner said "Dad always said so much about superman's hideout that I couldn't hold myself. This place is magnificent."

"Doesn't change the fact that you are trespassing." Superman said. "Not to mention you're a Luther, they always have a game up on their sleeve."

Conner's eyes narrowed. The truth was Lex Luther always told him to stay away from the league, Walk the other way when he saw a hero and never talk a word to them. Conner broke every single one of them, this had nothing to do with the name "Luther".

"Look." Conner said, frustrated. "If I had a game up my sleeve, I would have done it a long time ago, Mister Kent."

Superman's frown deepened. Jor-El appeared behind him with a genuine smile. "He is intelligent." Jor-El said with a fond tone. "I like this one. Feel free to come back, Conner Luther. But You are also in a dire need of a kryptonian name."

Superman turned to look at Jor-Els hologram. The man was probably never this confused his entire life. "Father, what is going on here?" he asked.

Superman's back was to conner, Conner shook his head frantically, silently bagging Jor-El to remain quiet and not to blow his cover. His blood ran cold when Jor-El looked directly at superman's eyes and said: "you will find out soon enough."

Superman sighed loudly and turned to see him again. Conner gave him a hesitant smile. "You know what?" he said out of frustration. "I'm taking you back to the watchtower. Batman will know more about this than I do."

Conner gripped his notebook tightly. "What? No!" he tried to say but superman grabbed the back of his leather jacket and howled him up. He dragged him to the Zeta beams and teleported him back to their secret base. 

========

His meeting with Batman was surprisingly an interview, not a questioning or a sentencing. Somehow, Batman seemed to forget he had sneaked inside superman's fortress of solitude. Instead he started asking him about recent Luthorcorp projects and if there were any blueprints stolen.

Conner of course didn't know anything. 

Red Robin Broke the news that they encountered Luthorcorp tech while fighting the lights New generation robots that almost beat their "team". Which was why they needed to know more about it.

Conner gave them a smile and told them he had no idea where it had come from, it was probably stolen during the attack on Luthorcorp.

After the interview with Batman and Red Robin, which almost ended with Red Robin being kicked out of the room because he was defending Conner too much for Batman's liking, Conner went to his room and shut the door. 

He leaned against it and slid down, sitting on the floor and staring at the wall for a few seconds. "Here goes my luck." he murmured to himself. 

A small part of him blamed himself for acting so emotionally. He should have read the JLs files on the Luthorcorp attack instead of running to superman's hideout. Now, he had ruined his chances. Batman won't let him roam free anymore and Superman will surely keep an eye on him at all times.

Maybe Red Robin will tell him about it if he asks, after all he had the right to know, the company is his after all.

He took out his phone from his pocket and hopelessly looked for a signal. He couldn't even call Tim. What sort of a prison was this? At least they allow people to call someone in normal prisons. He could've at least called mercy and tell her he was ok.

Mercy.

The thought of the cyborg assistant caused him physical pain to think about. The last she knew he was staying at the kents for the night and then BOOM, he sent an SOS signal.

The JL must have told her... Right?

He was thrown out of his thoughts by a clock announcing snack time in the cafeteria. He wanted to stay inside and forget about getting whatever there was in the Watchtower cafeteria, but the growling in his stomach forced him to get out of his room and go to the cafeteria.

If he didn't know better, he felt like the satellite cafeteria was a school lunch place. He didn't mind the atmosphere much. The snacks were two cakes and orange juice. He accepted them from the robot and went to sit alone.

A few minutes later, the doors opened and the team members walked in, talking loudly to each other. The cafeteria was filled with the sound of teenaged boys and girls talking about nothing and everything. 

Conner started looking for Red Robin. He saw kidflash and wondergirl, people R.R. usually hanged out with, but they were alone. No sign of Red Robin in sight.

He rolled his eyes and nagged quietly to himself when he realised the only way to find out where Red Robin was, was to ask someone from the team. 

Communication with people who didn't want him around was never pleasant.

Conner drank the orange juice and put the cakes in his pocket. He casually approached Wondergirl and waited for her to finish what she was talking about to kid flash.

He didn't waste one second when she stopped talking. "Pardon, have you seen Red Robin, I want to have a word with him." he said suddenly.

"Oh, Red went back home to analyze a few things we found in our last mission with Vandal savage. Nasty New tech we found. Superman was going to analyze them in the fortress too." Wondergirl said with a smile. "He'll be back."

Oh.

That was why Superman showed up in the fortress.

Conner nodded politely and thanked her for answering her, unlike every one else who liked to ignore his existence.

Conner picked up the two cakes and left the cafeteria. He wanted to sit down on a bench and start plotting his next move when he spotted superboy sitting alone nearby.

Every nerve in his body told him to walk away, maybe give him a smile at most. But This kid was like his brother. He'd risked everything to get to know his adopted grandparents and biological grandfather in the fortress. He could talk to superboy-- Jonothan-- for free! Why should he let the opportunity slip?

He found himself sitting next to him. "Hey. Do you want one?" he said and offered one of the cakes he got from the cafeteria. 

He gave him a small smile. "No, thanks I'm kind of full." Jonothan murmured. 

Conner couldn't help but notice that Jonothan was a little bit leaning forward and his voice was somehow weaker than the last time they talked.

"Uhm, Jonothan-- can I call you Jonathan?" he asked. Jonathan suddenly paled and looked at him, surprised and confused at how he knew his name. "Relax! I've known for a while now." he said with a chuckle. "And it's not because you slipped up."

Jonathan breathed easily. "Yeah... I go by Jon." he said with a smile.

"Good to know." Conner said with a smile. "But for goodness sake don't call me Con. Okay?" 

This made Jon laugh.

Happy that he managed to make his somewhat brother laugh, he realised he wanted to continue the conversation. Jon was the First other person who he wanted to talk to without any ulterior motive since he met Tim.

"Well, Jon I heard you went to a very dangerous mission today." Conner murmured. "With Vandal savage of all people. Man, I hated that guy! He had a habit of breaking into Luthorcorp and fighting with Mercy and the rest of the security all the time. Did you kick his butt?"

"Yeah!" Jon cheered happily. "He got away before we could call in the league but. That weird guy only protected himself with a spray."

"A spray?" 

"After he lost the battle from me and robin he just pointed a weird gun at me with only fired a blue bitter liquid." Jon said with disgust.

"That guy is way out of his mind." Conner murmured thoughtfully.

Suddenly Jon grabbed his stomach like he had a painful stomach ache, Conner almost dropped his cakes from panic. He put a hand on his back. "Are you alright?" he asked. 

"No..." Jon said and clutched his stomach. "I'm just hungry. That's all."

Conner blinked a few times. If Jon hadn't just refused Conners cakes, Conner would have bought that excuse. A superhuman being sick was unheard of so it was probably the first time Jon ever felt sick in his entire life.

There was a sound of a zeta tube and the computer announced Superman's presence. Jon beamed and gave Conner a nod before running off to meet his father. 

Conner's eyes narrowed. "Spray..." he murmured. Something was awfully suspicious about Vandal savage's move. He wasn't an idiot or a coward. He does everything on point. Every single blow he delivered to Luthercorp was always on point even the ones that sounded idiotic at first almost made the company collapse.

So Conner had the undeniable Gut feeling that something was going to go awfully wrong, awfully soon.

He dropped the uneaten cake in the bin and followed Jon to the main womb before he stopped himself. 

If something was going to go wrong, Conner didn't want to get caught in the crossfire no matter how much he started to worry for Jon. 

He could let Jon go home and then tell Red Robin his concerns and if he agreed he'll tell Batman and everything will go fine.

He turned around to go away and go back to his room. Everything would be just fine---

His super hearing started to pick up a few words from what was happening in the transportation room. Robin was going to spend the night with the Kents apparently and Jons heartbeat was beating way too fast. Conner was positive because he was excited. 

"Kent, are you alright?" Robin asked, his voice as professional as ever.

Jon didn't respond for a second before saying: "Dizzy"

And then a loud "thud" and a frantic shout of "Jon!" from Robin.

Conner raced to the main hall, he never could have expected what he saw in a million years. Robin was slowly lowering Jon to the ground, his normal stoic face was full of worry and his eyes were wide open. 

Jon had collapsed before the zeta tubes started working. Robin caught him before he hit the ground, Superman was next to them in an instant, his X-Ray vision searched the poor boy's body frantically for a poison or any sort of kryptonite. Of course, he found none.

Conner was frozen in place and watched as Robin held his friend close. Jons eyes were completely closed and his body was limp in the older boy's embrace. Conner couldn't help but feel helpless. Whatever this was, Vandals plan was working. 

========

Jon was critical in a day.

There was no better place to keep him than the watchtower. They kept Jon under solar suits 24/7 and it didn't seem to work. They had the best doctors on the planet and even other planets at bay and even they didn't know what was wrong with him.

Four days later Jon was still sick, Conner kept an ear for everything that was happening in Jons room. Normal doctors couldn't pinpoint what was wrong, neither could doctor fate. Not even kryptonian files had anything. 

When Jor-El proclaimed he had never seen such a thing, the pen Conner was holding broke in his hand and he tightened his hold on the shattered pieces of the pen. "Well played, Vandal. Well played." Conner murmured angrily.

On the fifth day, Conner couldn't help himself. Fidgeting in his room wouldn't dull down his worry. So he opened the door and found his way to the medical bay.

The pristine white walls were just as they were before, there were new sounds that got Conner's attention. His super hearing had stabilized in the past few days and Conner was proud to say he could even hear a fly's wings at the other side of the station if the watchtower had any flies.

When he got closer to Jons room, he found a place to hide behind the green bushes and listened. He opened his eyes and activated his enhanced vision to see what was happening behind the walls. Dr midnite was in the middle of a very heated explanation for the poor parents of why their hybrid son was in his deathbed.

He listened to Jons heart beat and realised Jon had lost the ability to breath on his own. Conners own breathing almost stopped.

His eavesdropping paid off when Dr midnite explained the final diagnoses: "I can't say for certain, it's neither earthen nor kryptonian. I previously thought his body was shutting down but newer results show that it's a contagious virus that has no reaction to full humans or kryptonians... But his hybrid body reacted to it."

Virus.

Conner remembers the same words being said to him once upon a time. His memory started to kick in and he remembered the day he and Tim wanted to attend a science fair. That day, he simply collapsed. When he woke up, his father explained to him that it was a rare virus. 

Now he knows better. The virus that hospitalized Jon, could be the same virus he had. The symptoms were the same.

But how?

Conner frowned. "Vandal..." he whispered angrily. He somehow got his hands on it. The spray! He infected Jon with the spray!

Conner's mind was going a thousand thoughts a second but then Dr midnite broke the bad news to the worrying parents.

"We are working at it, but currently we have no cure."

We have no cure.

We have NO cure.

Yes they did! He was here, breathing, living because of it. Realisation settled in his mind when he realised that the JL didn't have a cure, but LutherCorp did.

And since Conner being a half kryptonian was such a well kept secret, nobody else ever knew of the disease let alone the existence of a cure.

"Is he going to survive?" Lois's broken voice almost melted his heart. Apparently, the relentless reporter had a heart. It was currently filled with pain.

"I don't know. His low brain activity is alarming... It all depends on how he spends the next few nights."

There was an alarm in Conner's mind. "That was wrong! Jon might not live until next morning, let alone a few days from now." he told himself.

Conner clenched his fists and covered his ears, he didn't want to hear anything anymore. He jumped out of the bushes and made his way to his "holding cell" and closed the door behind him. He shut his ears further by pressing the pillow to his ears.

He didn't want to hear what else was going to happen to that poor boy. He barely remembered anything from the time he was sick. Just the first day, Tims horrified face as Conner touched his face and found blood trailing down his nose, lost balance and fell to the ground in the middle of the science fair.

"There were times we were sure you wouldn't survive." his father's voice echoed in his mind. "Your brain activity was a little higher than a brain dead person and all it took was three days to reach such a stage. We knew you wouldn't have made it past fifth. It was a miracle we could make the cure in time... Well not exactly a miracle. We had tons of information on how alien material affects the human body, most of it came through illegal experiments in the past that were halted a few years after you were born. Because of that we could make it in time. For anyone else it would have taken years..."

"They won't make it in time." he murmured in the pillow. 

"They are the greatest minds in the world. Of course they will."another thought retaliated. "Seriously? Superman isn't stupid, if you give him the cure out of nowhere, he'll suspect something's up and he'll find out about the cloning in no time. We don't want that!"

"But Jon is dying!"

"He's in a coma, he's not feeling any of it."

"He has a mom and a dad! We can't just let it happen! We have to help"

"No! It'll ruin the mission. Superman must not find out about us until we're ready to face whatever his reaction will be."

The voices kept fighting in his head. 

Conner picked up the morning clock on the nightstand and threw it against the wall. It broke through the first layer of the metallic wall and was stuck there.

Conner hit his head against the pillow a few more times because if he kept going like this, someone would soon find out about his newfound abilities, because a normal angry human couldn't penetrate a thick wall like that with a morning clock.

=========

Sneaking out of the watchtower was... Surprisingly easy. If Vandal wanted to distract the justice league somehow he was doing a wonderful job. The thought of Vandal running around and doing whatever he wanted without supervision made Conner sick.

There was no on watching duty. So Conner used the holo-computer on his watch to set the destination to Metropolis and teleport himself there.

He appeared in an out of order telephone booth in metropolis. He put on his hoodie and closed his eyes. 

Every single nerve in his body told him to forget about Jon and walk back home. He was FREE, for crying out loud. He could run to Tim's house, or go see Mercy after a whole week, or anyone else really. His entire education was put on hold unnecessarily, he could continue that.

And most importantly, he could look for his father again. He was somewhere on the planet, knowing very well he was pronounced dead in a heartbeat. Lex Luther was somewhere and Conner had to prioritize finding him over anything else.

Even his half brother.

Going to Luthercorp was easier than he thought. He intended to go see that destroyed office again, see if he could find anything else before he restarted his search.

He entered from the main door and made his way to the elevator. Suddenly he found a taller receptionist blocking his way with a stern face. "Sorry kid, you're going the wrong way." he said. "This elevator is only for the staff."

Without saying one word. He removed his hoodie and looked up at the man. The guard recognized him instantly and cleared the way. Conner went inside without saying a word. 

His hand hovered above number 85. 

Did he really want to do this?

Conner closed his eyes and pressed 90 instead. His father never allowed him to go to the roof and Conner really needed to think. So why not?

When he reached level 90, he couldn't help but feel happy. He stepped out of the elevator and stepped on the roof of one of the tallest buildings in the metropolis. He could never find a view like this again... Not until he learns to fly at least.

He came towards the edge and sat down. Metropolis was right under his feet. He closed his eyes and let his beating heart calm down. 

He couldn't fly, but if he fell down, his kryptonian abilities would keep him alive so it was really no danger.

It was truly a magnificent sight. It was cloudy at the moment, it would probably rain soon and Conner should head back in but the sense of peace and quiet was pulling him to stay there.

Rain started to pour down.

Which brought him to the matter at hand.

Normally, he would go to his father for help, but the thought of his father just left him in a hollow pain in his chest.

How was he doing? Did the person who kidnapped him do something? 

Conner halted those thoughts, there was too much about his father's whereabouts that he didn't know and that just made the ache in his heart worse. He didn't even know if Lex was alive.

So he settled on the next option. Conner had Tim on speed dial so all he needed to do was press 5 and pretend not to be on top of Luthorcorp on a rainy day. 

After a few moments Tim answered his phone.

"Hey, Con. How ya doing." Tim asked cheerfully.

The thunderstorm became heavier but he had no intention of going inside. The rain droplets were somehow calming and soothing the worries in his mind. Conner liked that, so he clenched the phone tighter in his hand.

Not bothering with the usual greetings, Conner went straight to the point. "Tim, can I ask you a question? I want your opinion on something."

The sound of rain almost blocked Tim's voice coming out of his phone but he could still hear his shock.

"You never ask for opinions!"

Again, he ignored him and said: "Say we are in a hypothetical position...."

"...ok." Tim murmured.

Conner looked down for a moment, he was 90 storied above the ground. He knew he hadn't mastered flight yet, but without the blue kryptonite in his watch, he would survive the fall.

That logic didn't stop his heart from hammering in his chest. 

The rain poured. Conner hair was soaked wet, but he didn't have to worry about getting a cold, so he pulled his hair back and continued to talk: "A position where... You have the cure for someone who is in pain, but if you give it to them, you'll be exposing one of your best kept family secrets. Now if that secret is exposed-- it'll end up very badly."

Conner made the conclusion that he likes the sensation of droplets of rain falling in his face.

Tims silence was full of words. The wheels in the back of his head were spinning madly. 

"That's a very soap opera position you have there." He murmured.

"Tell me about it." Conner murmured. "Now... tell me what would you do if you were in this very hypothetical and unreal situation."

"Does it matter? There is a person's life at stake. If I really liked that person I'd give the cure in a heartbeat." Tim explained. "I would do that... Bruce has too many secrets and exposing one of them results in all the house of cards falling down, but a loved one's life is worth those secrets."

Of course Tim would say that. He had lost both of his parents. He would know what losing a loved one would feel like and by the looks of it, Conner didn't want to experience it.

Conner wanted to hit himself for even doubting it for a moment. "Thanks buddy, as always it's useful talking to you."

"Hey! Wait Conner, what is it about--'"

But he didn't get to finish as Conner ended the call and went back to the elevator. And pressed the right key on his watch. His holocomputer appeared.

If he gives them the cure, it's only a matter if time before the justice league finds out about his parentage and other Cadmus secrets.

Conner took a deep breath, "give me whatever you have on my disease a few years back." he demanded the computer.

=======

Turns out, his father didn't trust the laboratories enough to leave Conners possible cure in Cadmus. He kept the "recipe" in highly secured LutherCorp and had a few fast ways to recreate the cure in no time in case Conner got reinfected.

Which worked perfectly for Conner.

What he had to do was simple enough that he didn't need to ask about anyone's help. The less people were around the better.

When he was making his way to main lab-03 on the 18th floor, his super hearing picked up two scientists celebrating that their project was working and one of the happily said:"man, I can take the night off"

Conner raced there, opened the door and smiled at the two male scientists in the room. "Good to hear that. You're all on vacation for the night!" Conner declared. And stepped inside 

One man raised an eyebrow and wanted to protest when Conner gave them a sharp look. "Didn't you just say your experiment was a success."

"Yes--"

"And your colleague said he really wanted to take the night off."

"Yes, but--"

Conner opened the door again and put his notebook aside. "I'm the boss and I'm telling you you can go home and take the night off.... Maybe even tomorrow- Yes call your other colleagues and tell them they can skip tomorrow entirely. Now, Out." he ordered firmly.

Both of them didn't question him anymore as they left the secret facility. Conner shut the door behind him and smiled. "Let's get to work." he murmured and picked up his notebook and reopened the hologram computer.

Upon searching for the cure they used for him, he found out they had the ingredients ready for three more doses in case he ever got sick again. Not what his father was expecting but it was a good plan.

Conner opened the containers and allowed the computers to scan his biometrics to give him access to whatever there was, including hidden computers and hidden rooms.

Fortunately, his father's plan regarded Mercy as the person who was making a cure so it was mostly simple and straightforward. His father had taken the courtesy of pre-making most of the ingredients, so his work was fairly easy.

All he had to do was to mix the lazarus waters and "project life" at exactly 200 atm and 450 degrees Celsius, in containments that were available in that very lab.

The result would be a serum which had to be administered within 7 hours.

Pretty easy, right?

So he sat down and readied project life, he had to let the daxonian minerals slowly melt. He let the computers do the rest of his work and watched carefully as the powders turned into a liquid .

"I feel like a wizard." Conner murmured as he watched the daxonian mineral melt carefully. "Where is my letter to hogwarts?"

Instead of answers, the daxonian minerals slowly started to bubble and his super hearing Gave Conner enough warning to hide.

A small "tap" sound reached his ears. Instinct took over and he dived behind a table and covered his face. The components started shaking and then the metallic container couldn't hold it any longer. It exploded.

There was no fire or smoke. The room was filled with a white gas that Conner had no idea what it was. He took a deep breath and held it, not wanting to inhale whatever this weird gas was. He made his way to the control panels and pressed the yellow button that was known for the "emergency air circulation" protocols. Hoping to make the hair breathable again.

Conner shut down the computers immediately and tried to remove the dust from his face. The white gas disappeared and he could breathe again and closely watch the mess in the lab.

That was NOT supposed to explode.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please Leave a kudos if you like it. <3


	7. If the sky was falling down for you, there is nothing in this world I wouldn't do.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Secret Identities were the biggest obstacle in their friendship. With that out of the way, Conner decides he doesn't want to wait around in the watchtower any longer.

The watchtower was silent except for the sound of a green lantern shouting at another green lantern.

"What do you mean he's gone?" Hal Jordan shouted, he wanted to hit Guy gurdner with the heaviest baseball bat in history.

Guy crossed his arms. "He's gone! Not here! He waltzed out of the watchtower when I was getting a snack." he explained 

Hal was running extremely low on patience. "You left your monitor duty!!" he shouted.

Before Guy could answer, they felt the looming presence of superman in the room. Superman slowly walked to them and put a hand on their shoulders. The stress of the past few days was evident by the bags under his eyes. "Gentlemen, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Sorry supes... But I think the Luther kid escaped." Guy said without warning. Hal glared at him.

Superman removed his hand. "He escaped?" he repeated. 

"Yeah, he took a zeta to metropolis and then went straight to Luthercorp, what happened after we don't know." Guy said.

Superman noded. with Jons illness, he barely had time to think about anything else. If the kid wants to leave so much and get himself captured by the light or worse, it's his call.

Suddenly, the computers announced: "Recognized, Conner Luther G-03." 

The blue lights dulled down and Conner stepped out of the zeta tube. He had a red box in one hand, which he held closely to his chest. With his other one, he removed the hoodie from his head and looked directly at the three men in front of him.

His hair was messy and there were evident black bags under his eyes. There was also a slight scar right above his left eyebrow. 

(Lesson learned: kryptonite isn't the only stone capable of hurting kryptonians.)

Without any greetings, he walked down and pressed the box to superman's chest with a frown. "Take this and ask no questions." Conner said as a matter of fact. "Not while we have company at least."

Superman turned and nodded at the green lanterns. Hal dragged Guy out of the room and they were finally alone.

Conner took a deep breath and looked everywhere except Superman's eyes. "It's the cure," he said simply, finally making eye contact with the man of steel. "Give doctor midnite and tell him to put this in his serum all in one go."

A few seconds passed before he got a reaction from superman. He just frowned. "I have no time for your games, Luther." he said angrily.

Spending the last 48 hours with only 8 hours of sleep left no patience for Conner at all. "believe it or not, I'm not playing you!" Conner shouted and threw his hands in the air. "You're lucky he's not brain dead yet. I'm offering you the only available cure, only because this boy treats me like a human being. If you don't trust me, break the vile or something I can't care less. I did what I was morally bound to do! The rest doesn't fall on me."

Superman narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what you're doing but--" he was rudely interrupted by another person who made himself known right then. Red Robin stepped inside from the shadows and stood behind Conner.

"I trust him." he said confidently. "And Superman... We don't have much time."

Superman eyes conner once before nodding at Red Robin. "I trust your judgement." he said and flew off to give the chemicals to Dr midnite.

Conner turned to the vigilante with a smile. "I Don't know where your infinite trust comes from...." he said and gave him a tired smile. "But Thanks." Conner murmured.

Red Robin removed his hands from under his cape and revealed that he was holding two cups of coffee. He offered one to Conner, who gladly accepted.

"We should thank you. You're the one who brought the cure. Though the unknown origin is kind of making everyone worry." he said 

"It's the best I can offer." Conner finished. He finally took his eyes off the cup of coffee and stared at Red robins white lenses. "I know you properly followed a very logical train of thoughts... But still... You trusted me and I can tell not one person trusts me in the entire satellite."

Red Robin put a hand on his shoulder. Conner winced at the contact and shrugged it off. Red Robin backed off a little. "You must understand the others' mistrust, Conner. When the league first formed, Lex Luther was one of their main villains."

Conner gripped the cup tightly. "I know that. But don't the heroes believe in second chances? Or what? They think evil is genetic?" Conner spat. "I bet if the cure doesn't work they'll accuse me of muder."

"No... We won't--"

"--Yes you will." Conner interrupted him very rudely. "Superman is ready to vaporize me if Jon doesn't wake up. Batman doesn't look at me without growling and a very clever insult and half of your team keep themselves twelve feet away from me like I have the plague! Two people treat me like human beings. One is you and the other is currently on a deathbed. And No one ever tells me why the hell am I here. By now, Batman has properly changed the encryption again so this time, I can never run away again. What am I?? Your prisoner??"

Suddenly Conner shut his mouth and his eyes widened he had never felt this angry in his life. This was another side-effect of Kryptonian powers he didn't like, it was harder for him to control his emotions and right then, Conner was screaming his frustration at Red Robin, who he barely knew.

Conner grabbed his hair and sighed loudly. "That came out wrong-- sorry I--" his tongue failed to make words. "I-- I gotta go. Sorry I shouldn't have shouted at you."

With that, Conner raced back to his holding cell. He shut the door and placed a mental note to be surprised if he woke up and saw bars instead of a door.

It had been a very long day.

Conner tried to close his eyes and forcefully finish the day. 

But he didn't even know if it was day. His morning clock was destroyed and there was no real meaning for day and night on a satellite. 

So he just closed his eyes and hoped he would be claimed by sleep soon.

Sleep never came for him that night. Conner spent the night lying down on his. Bed, staring at the ceiling, and listening to whatever was going on in the satellite.

He found out two things.

1\. Team went on a covert mission that ended up in an explosion and mass fire. (So much for being covert.)

2\. Jon woke up three hours after delivering the medicine.

=======

What do you take when you want to visit a recovering person?

Conner hummed as he walked through the halls of the watchtower. Since Jon had woken up, the entire team was suddenly on good terms with him. Some even apologised for their lack of respect earlier, which only made Conner angrier.

Right now, he was just looking for flowers to pick up and go visit Jon. Too bad this place doesn't have a florist. Conner came across some species of flowers that he was pretty sure didn't exist on earth, but nothing he could take to a sick person's bed.

Until he came across some red roses and lilies with a giant sign on it: "G.A. and B.C flowers. Don't touch."

Conner wanted to laugh. The only reasonable flowers were growing so that the Green arrow could impress black canary?

"Bless Green arrow and black canary and their cheesy love for eachother." Conner thought as he kneeled down and picked up the red roses Green arrow had planted specifically for black canary.

It won't be that much of a waste, He's going to give them to Jon and hopefully replace them with better ones.

Well, the watchtower doesn't have a florist so a messed up bouquet of roses was the best thing he could improvise. Conner held them near his nose and marveled at the mesmerizing smell.

The watchtower didn't have a florist, but it had a wonderful gardener.

He stood up and ran away before anyone could see him picking up green arrows flowers. The medical bay was just on the other side of the gardens and he just saw Lois and superman going to the cafeteria. 

Jon was alone. Conner didn't have much time.

In the past week since Jon has woken up. He could visit him only once before he got kicked out by Robin. The other days he just listened to what was happening. He didn't know why but he never wanted the possibility of Jon dieing to become a reality.

He covered his face with his flowers and pushed the door open. "Hey Jonno." Conner said with a huge smile and took the flowers away from his face. 

"Conner!" he cheered with a smile. "Where have you been? Batman said you knew about this weird disease I had." he said and stretched his hand to take them from Conner.

Conner smiled and stepped inside; he handed the flower to the younger boy before he sat down on the chair next to the med. "Well it's kind of a long story." Conner answered. "You can say I kind of... Had a disease like this when I was a kid... Do you remember the time when you sneaked inside cadmus and I freed you."

Jon nodded.

"Well, I was there because I had the same sickness as you did." Conner said with a shrug. "When I saw the same symptoms and overheard Dr midnites diagnosis... I knew it was the same thing so I went straight to Luthercorp and picked up the last vial and came back."

Jon smiled. "Wow... Dr midnite said he'd never seen such a thing before." he murmured. "Does that make us brothers-in-survival or something."

"What? I've never heard of that phrase..."

"I've just come up with it." Jon said with a shrug. "It's weird you know. How you got it too. Because I thought the reason I got it was because I was half-Kryptonian.... But if you got it means humans are vulnerable too!"

"Heh. Yes. Totally the point." Conner lied with a fake smile on his face. "Anyway, Kid. I gotta get going before your dad shows up." 

Conner stood up to leave but Jon asked him one last question: "Did you go out again?"

Conner scuffed and raised an eyebrow. "With the stunts I've pulled. I'll be lucky to see the light of the day ever again." He said with a smile.

"Then how did you get the flowers?" Jon asked and smelled the roses.

"The watchtower has a green house and apparently Green arrow likes to plant flowers for Black canary once in awhile. I picked it up for him this time."

Jon giggled and put the flowers aside. "He's gonna be so angry. You'll have arrows in your back in no time." he said with a laugh.

Conner dramatically put a hand over his heart. "You mean you won't protect me, mister Superboy? My feelings are hurt." he said and dramatically sighed.

Jons laughter intensified. "Fine," he said mid laughter. "I shall protect you from those who seek to harm you, Conner Luther."

Conner likes this moment. Since he had found out Jon was technically his half brother, he'd had this unbearable feeling to annoy and protect this boy at this time. He risked exposing Luthorcorp to the justice league by simply accessing the files on his sickness a few years back.

Luthercorp could be searched thoroughly by Batman right now for all he knew. But he felt unbearably satisfied simply by seeing this little half human-kryptonian talk.

That didn't mean he didn't want to annoy him, though.

"Yeah, protect me and I just might keep the little crush you have on Robin a secret." Conner said with a sly smirk.

Jon blushed immediately. Conner let out an evil laugh. "Look at you! You're blushing! I bet you haven't even told anyone." he said and pointed at Jons red face.

Which made him impossibly redder.

"Oh my god, you haven't!" Conner murmured. Jon tried to cover his face with his hands and then with the pillow.

It was too late, Conner had already seen it. 

He leaned back and started singing: "Jon and Robin... Sitting on a tree"

"Stoooop"

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Conner continued singing, watching the boys helpless cry for him to stop.

"You're the worst." Jons voice was muffled because he had buried his face in pillows. Conner couldn't stop laughing out loud.

It all came to a stop when Robin opened the door and stepped inside. He was playing with his batarang and he grabbed it firmly in his hand when he saw Conner in the room. "What is so funny, Luther?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

Conner could only smile in response. For whatever reason, the bats' furious bat glares didn't work on him. He stood up and raised his arms in surrender. "Ask Jon. I'll leave you to it." he murmured.

He could hear Jon murmuring:"I hate you" under his breath but he made no sign of hearing it. He never broke his eye contact with Robin until he passed him. 

Conner stopped for a moment before he stepped out of the medical bay. " Robin? Where is Red Robin? I want to have a word with him."

Robin was standing next to the blushing Jon now, he had no intention of sitting down or talking to Jon while Conner was in the room. 

Robin shrugged in response. "Superman was having a word with him last time I saw him." He said carelessly.

Conner nodded and made his way out into the main halls of the watchtower, where they could most likely find who he was looking for.

As he was walking away. He silently activated his super hearing and focused on Red Robin's heartbeat and voice. 

He was surprised he could feel the difference between Red Robin's heartbeat and the others. Almost like he had known that particular heartbeat his entire life. 

He wondered if he could do the same with Tim in the future. When he gets out. 

He didn't have to wonder for long.

When he found it, He filtered all the other sounds and found out Red Robin was in the main room with Superman, currently having a heated argument.

"Lex might be hiding- or kidnapped- in Vandals palace in the Himalayas." Red Robin said. "There is no other explanation over how they have all the access they want to Lexcorp. By keeping Conner Luther a target, they keep him away and their access for certain."

"I'm starting to think Conner is a part of their plan. I feel like he is a spy." superman said.

"He's my friend, superman. I know him like I know myself and he'd never do that."

Conner wasn't surprised to hear superman accuse him but he was surprised to hear Red Robin calling him his friend. They'd known each other for a week tops. Why?

"He was in the fortress, if this doesn't scream danger, I don't know what does."

Conner stopped walking and leaned back against the wall and tried not to make a sound. His super hearing was a bunos, nobody knew he could hear and sometimes see everything that was happening around them. Conner wanted to keep it that way.

"I know that superman, Me and Batman are trying to decrypt his codes right now." Red Robin answered. "Don't worry, Conner isn't the kind of person to steal anything from your fortress."

Red Robin was eager to defend him most of the time, Conner had a few minutes to wonder why that was.

"Listen... Conner is just very suspicious, Tim... I know he's your best friend but if you know anything just tell me ok?"

Suddenly His mind tried to process what he had just heard.

Superman just called Red Robin "Tim". And a few nights ago he called Batman "Bruce". Which only meant one thing.

The possibilities of Batman being Bruce Wayne and Red Robin being Tim Drake was narrow. But now he was certain of both.

He dashed forward, racing all the way from where he was standing to where they were faster than a speeding bullet.

He had the presence of mind to stop before the corner to stop himself from being spotted. 

He was spotted. 

"Conner!" Superman murmured to stop Tim from explaining anything further.

He rushed inside the common room of the watchtower. He didn't care about the magnificent view of earth that was all around them or the holograms, he just had eyes for a certain red hero.

"You- you were-- you were--" Conners mouth failed to make words he just stood there, eyes wide and mouth agape. 

Red Robin almost panicked, of course, he didn't show it. He dropped the fake deep voice and answered Conner with his genuine real tone : "Conner! Please.- I-I can explain."

Conner narrowed his eyes. "Explain what?" he shouted. He moved forward and pushed him down, not knowing his kryptonian strength had kicked in, Conner pushed him hard enough for Red Robin to fall. "Explain what??" 

Robin tried to lean back on his feet and suddenly he felt superman hold him back. Superman didn't expect Conner to have kryptonian level strength so it was easy for Conner to break Superman's grip on him. "Let me go!" he shouted as he freed himself from the man of steel, leaving him surprised at the level of this boy's strength.

"Of All the people I thought you'd never betray me. Bold of me to trust a gothamite!" Conner said bitterly and stormed out. His heavy footsteps echoed in the watchtower.

Red Robin tried to gain back his footing and run after him but superman but a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Let him go, Tim." he murmured. "He needs some time for himself right now."

Red Robin narrowed his eyes. "I know what he wants to do superman." he said quietly. "He just wants to know more about himself, that's all."

"I need to talk to Batman." Red Robin murmured slowly and walked away, leaving a stunned superman behind.

=======

Superman has been playing cat and mouse with the Batman for more years than he cares to count. So when Red Robins answered he knew Tim wasn't going to tell anything.

Conner Luther was suspicious.

The fact that he was with his parents was the first clue. Ma and Pa would never let a teenager like him go unsupervised especially given the circumstances. He was able to escape Deathstroke and survived a semi car crash at night.

That's not what a normal human can do. He had seen the scene and it definitely was real. Batman also agreed the motorcycle crash wasn't fake. Conner really did survive a car crash, Deathstroke and the freezing temperatures of the fortress of solitude. That kid was definitely a meta.

The kid was strange. He knew all about registered Meta-humans of metropolis and neither of the Luthers were metas, but only a powerful Meta could survive all that. It wasn't beyond Lex to give his kid forced superpowers... But Lex would shout it to the skies that his kid was unbeatable. Lexs silence implied that he either didn't know about his son's meta powers or somehow it's exposure would harm them.

To add on top of it, only a meta could move that fast from the other side of the watchtower to this side. And there was no way he'd randomly storm here and interrupt their conversation just in the right moment that Superman slipped up.... Unless he could hear the conversation when he was away.

Which meant he had super hearing in addition of super strength, speed and invulnerability. 

He didn't have one scar on his body.

("He just wants to know more about himself, that's all")

Was it possible that the kid was kryptonian? If he was, why hadn't he developed powers before? Why now? And why would Luther, of all people, raise a kryptonian as his son.

Superman narrowed his eyes.

Luther could do many things, raising an alien child and manipulating it into whatever he wants wasn't beyond him. But superman couldn't ignore all the resemblance they had.

Clark remembered the time when Luther had auburn hair, just like conners. And their eyes were exactly the same. 

Except.... Conner's hair wasn't auburn anymore. It was jet black.

Superman had too many questions and no answers. But he knew one person that could answer him. 

Jor-El.

He set the teleporters to the fortress of solitude. He materialized immediately and the AI was waiting for him patiently. 

Superman asked one question: "father, was any of our genetic samples stolen? I have evidence to believe it was."

Jor-El raised an eyebrow. "No, it has not." he said as a matter of fact. "You and Kara were the only ones who managed to escape krypton. Do you know of any other living Kryptonians on earth?"

"I do." Superman, Kal-El, said confidently. "I'm sure a sample was stolen and a half kryptonian child was created."

Superman took a step forward. "I have to ask you a question and i'm sure you know the answer. Is Conner Luther a half kryptonian? And what family does his other half belong to?"

Jor-El smiled. "I see he told you." he said with a smile. "I had sworn secrecy to my grandson. I had hoped he would tell you sooner?"

"What is Jon hiding?" 

"Not Jon."

Kal-El was taken aback. His eyes widened and the answers quickly formed in his mind.

"Do you not see the similarities, My son?" Jor-El said and raised an eyebrow. "Then I shall inform you that Conner Luther--and please for Rao's sake give him a kryptonian name-- Conner Luther is your son. The DNA wasn't stolen from our reserve... It was taken from you."

=========

"Don't try to stop me Tim." conner murmured, never taking his eyes off the monitor. "I know it's your code that's blocking me."

He wanted to go to whatever this "vandals palace" was and get over it. 

He turned around and saw the only other person in the main womb and his only obstacle on his way to a functioning teleporter.

Tim--- Red Robin didn't say anything he just took a step closer and grabbed his wrists. 

"I know I can break your grip at this point right? Second greatest detective in the world?" Conner spat and pulled his hand back.

Robin's white lenses were on his green eyes. "Don't go Conner. We've been fighting these guys for years. We know what they're capable of."

"I know what they're capable of too and that's exactly why I should Go." Conner shouted back.

"You think you can take them by yourself?" Tim shouted angrily. "They have manipulated entire countries-- even the UN! That resourceful! You think they don't have enough kryptonite to kill you?"

That actually made him stop and think for a moment. 

Conner narrowed his eyes and pulled his hand back, freeing it from Red Robins Iron grip. "I'm still going." he said angrily.

Red Robin was frozen in place for one minute. Conner heard a "ding" and saw that the Zeta tubes were coming to life. Without looking at Tim, he dashed forward.

Tim threw a grappling hook, he tried to keep Conner from entering the zeta tubes. These special grappling hooks were laced with magical artifacts to insure its usefulness on different scenarios they might face.

Red Robin thought the magic would weaken Conner and stop him.

He was wrong.

Conner didn't even feel the metal closing around his hand as he ran inside the tube, taking tim with him.

They landed on a snowy mountain. Red Robin felt dizzy from the cold and lack of Oxygen but Conner seemed unaffected.

When they opened their eyes. They were lying on the snow in a mountain field that Tim knew didn't belong in their continent. Conner had hit his head on a rock that would have broken his neck if he wasn't half-alien.

Red Robin put an oxygen mask on his own face and helped Conner stand up. "Well... Both of us are in this mess now." Conner murmured softly and robbed his head.

Conner could see a distant palace, far far away from the corner of his eyes. That must have been the light hideout the league was talking about. The palace was maybe two stories high but it was superb. It was clearly influenced by chinese architecture.

"I think I know where they are." Conner murmured softly.

Red Robin quickly got on his feet and helped him up. "I never thought I'd say this." he murmured, looking directly into Conners eyes. "Let's save Lex Luthor."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Lex Luther dead? Is he still alive? Who knows! We'll find out out next chapter...
> 
> *dramatic background music*
> 
> LEAVE A KUDOS IF YOU LIKED IT, thanks. <3


	8. Its just me and your ghost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conner and Red Robin get more than what they bargained for in the Himalayas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> We are getting closer to the end! This is almost the final chapter. The next one is just an epilogue to wrap things up!
> 
> Thank you all for supporting me through all this story, it means the world to me. Special thanks goes to those you commented and gave me feed back all the time.

Batman only managed to find a few strands of hair, which was enough for some DNA testing to prove Superman's genuinely mad theory about their recent guest in the watchtower.

As Bruce set the few strands of hair he found in Conners room in the examination box, he thought it was maybe impossible. After all, Conner Luther was one of Tim's closest friends. 

Bruce never allowed Tim to bring Conner to the manor (which resulted in Tim sneaking out of the house in ungodly hours.) But of course if Conner was somehow Clarks kid Tim would definitely know and he would tell Bruce, right?

Sure they had drifted apart in the past year, but not that much for tim to hold such vital information to himself.

Superman couldn't stop fidgeting around. He had the most distraught and angry face Bruce had even seen. He pretended not to notice and programmed the main computer to start the DNA testing.

Batman took his hands off the holo-computer and turned around. "You seem distraught." he said as a matter of fact.

"No offense, but Some people don't want to know they have kids out of nowhere." Superman said with a frown. "Specially... This way."

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "You mean the way you found out or the way he was... created?" he said hesitantly. 

"Basically both." Superman murmured and robbed the bridge of his nose. "Jor-El insists he is a member of the house of El and his creation would be totally legitimate on krypton and I have no idea how he even exists! On top of everything, Jor-El refuses to tell me anything! This is a huge security breach. "

Bruce turned back to the holograms and contacted Oracle immediately. The DNA tests went aside. "Don't worry, Clark. Well find out." he murmured and pressed a button. 

Oracles logo came up before her video feed appeared. Batman's frown softened a little. "This is a secured line.'' Batman said to clarify. "What do you have, Barbra?"

Barbra nodded once before another screen showed up full of details of project Kr from Cadmus. Unconsciously, Superman came closer to read the files.

"Not much but I got what we wanted." Barbra said with a smile. "I searched Cadmus's files for anything related to superman, and the results were more than what I expected. About 19 years ago, Cadmus got a hold of an exploitable resource of your DNA, superman. Which kickstarted their cloning research about kryptonian DNA."

Batman narrowed his eyes angrily. "After doomsday. They got what they needed from your blood, which was all over the city after the fight."Batman explained. Superman's eyes widened in shock but he said nothing and waited for Barbra to finish her explanation.

Barbras smile fell. "Well that wasn't explained. Anyway, the good news is, neither of their clones with full Kryptonian DNA survived more than a week, a few who did were proven to be too difficult to deal with so they were disposed of." she said.

Clark didn't really want to think how they were "disposed of". Cadmus was famous for its inhuman ways of expanding science and technology. There was a reason it was closed after all.

"The last of those projects was named Project Kr. It's written it was disposed of again. It was the only project that had a mix of human-Kryptonian DNA. It was authorized by Lionel Luther but since he was too old, he used his Son's DNA. It's written that Lex terminated it personally."

Batman's face remained neutral. "Except he didn't." he said as a matter of fact

"No he didn't." Barbra agreed with a nod. Then he averted his eyes directly to superman. "Conner Luther was officially born about a day after Kr was last seen.... And Lionel Luther was killed."

"Lex killed his own father for that." Superman whispered angrily. 

Barbra nodded again. "And then raised Conner. Conner is... Pretty bright and intelligent, actually. I looked into his files. Unlike some people, Conner never had to be bribed out of prison by his rich dad."

Dick Grayson's shout of annoyance could be heard from Barbara's side of the conversation: "that was one time Babs! One time, will you ever let me and Jason live past it?"

All three of them decided to ignore it.

Barbra leaned forwards and closer to the camera. "If you want to hear it from me, he is really a clone of you and Lex Luther's mixed DNA. The real mystery is how they managed to keep it a secret all these years.... And that's why Red Robin never told us."

Superman looked away and fisted his hands. Barbra took it as a queue to leave. She gave a nod and ended the communication, leaving the world's finest alone.

Bruce put a comforting hand on Clark's shoulder. Clark just chuckled. "This is going to be an awkward call to Lois." He said with a forced laugh.

"Well, I'm not sure if it exactly falls in the category of a new son... for you at least." Batman said seriously. 

Clark laughed anxiously. "Yeah, right, cuz everybody seems to fall in the category of "a new son" for you, Bruce." he tried to joke. But of course Batman didn't laugh.

Batman looked at the tiny window of the DNA test from the corner of his eyes. It proved all of their suspicions. Conner shared 52 percent DNA with superman. 

Bruce cracked a smile and Clark knew it was the end of the world. "All I know is... Congratulations Clark." Bruce said with a smirk. "It's a boy."

========

Conner and Tim--Red Robin managed to find their way to the ancient palace in one piece.

The palace turned out to be 10 stories high. Conner had never seen architecture like this. From afar, he'd say it looked like chinese architecture but now he saw elements of other cultures too.

Looks like world domination wasn't Vandal savage's only interest at heart. He could teach a thing or two about architecture apparently.

The duo sneaked inside. Red Robin Led the way and Conner tried not to make much sound. Seeing the usual careless Tim wayne so focused and on point was something new. Conner tried not to think over the fact that he'd confessed his parentage to Red Robin, of all people. Conner thought that since Batman hadn't knocked down their security and taken him away the first day, Tim hasn't told his adoptive father anything. Which was good. 

Conner tried not to think about it as they crossed the halls of the ancient castle and tried to find where the prisoners were held. The sooner they found Lex Luther the better.

Needless to say they were surrounded the moment they stepped inside the main compound. No matter how hard Red Robin tried to convince Conner to stay back, he refused and followed him inside. Conner accidentally hid a vase and it broke. The sound alerted everyone in the palace.

In a matter of seconds, Dozens of ninjas in red and black went around them, all of them threatening them with the tip of their swords. 

"Genius." Conner murmured and pressed his back to Tim-- Red Robins. Red Robin was silent as he examined the ninjas in front of him. He could take them out no problem, but he didn't know how Conner would fare.

Red Robin glanced back at Conner. His priorities were obvious, he had to protect his friend at all costs. "Please tell me you're at least invulnerable." Red Robin said through gritted teeth.

Conner shook his head. He didn't have time to answer before an assassin attacked. He tried to penetrate his chest with his sword. Conner could feel his heart give up. Time slowed down as the blade got closer to his chest--

\-- and shattered to a million pieces.

Everyone stared with surprise as the assassin backed off, the broken sword in hand.

Red Robin murmured incoherently. Conner only smiled and laughed maniacally. "Thats a yes." Conner said happily.

Robin just growled. Happy of the revelation, he looked at the Ninjas with a smirk and cracked his knuckles, ready to fight.

~~

Red Robin knocked out the last Ninja and hunched down to pick up and slam the one with a different looking uniform to the wall, Violently. "Tell me where the prisoners are." Red Robin said harshly and held his batarang close to the poor unmasked assassin's cheek. Conner decided to stay back and stand a few feet behind his friend.

Did Tim always have this side?

"I... know nothing." the ninja muttered.

Robin gently pushed the batarang down. "Think again." he said with a frown.

"it's different-- who--who are you looking for?" the assassin murmured quietly, not wanting to contact the batarang with his face.

Conner stepped forward. "Luther." He said. "Lex Luther. Where is he?" 

The man chuckled. "So you're his boy?"

Red Robin frowed and pressed the man to the wall. Never taking the threat of the batarang. "Answer. The question." Red Robin whispered.

"You're looking for a dead man."

Conner frowned. He wanted to push the man away and find another one to interrogate. One that would tell them the truth.

But the sound of thousands of footsteps invaded his mind. He grabbed Red Robin and pulled him away to the opposite ways. "There are more coming. They aren't talking. We must find some sort of data center or a main computer before they destroy it." he murmured. 

Red Robin nodded and followed him away. They ran until they reached the end of a hallway and into a room. They jumped inside and closed the door behind them and locked it. 

"Listen closely and see if you can hear any sound of electronics." Red Robin ordered firmly.

Conner took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He allowed his super hearing to roam free so he could hear everything in the palace, from a beating heart to the sound of motors.

He found the buzzing of a few computers. A few of them were near each other so Conner suspected that would be the main computer room. Conner opened his eyes and nodded at Red Robin. 

Red Robin raised an eyebrow. "So your powers really did evolve! Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"Red Robin you or Tim drake you?" Conner said with an expressionless face. 

Red Robin sighed loudly. "Point taken. Ok. Where is it?" he asked and crossed his arms.

Conner pointed at the roof. "Upstairs." he said. "And there are assassins waiting for us behind this door."

/"bring the explosives."/

"Oh and they are going to bring down the door in a few seconds." Conner added hesitantly and pushed Red Robin to the balcony to take him away from the soon to be gone doors.

There was a window upstairs. "That's it. We gotta get there." he murmured.

Red Robin took out his grappling gun and put on the hook. "Great, let me full my grappling gun twice for us. Now listen carefully because I'll explain this only once--"

/"ten seconds."/

"Not enough time." Conner said. A simple thought crossed his mind. 

Superman could fly right? He could too, probably. He should be pulling a stunt like the one he had in mind in two weeks, when the effects of blue kryptonite has fully left his body but he doesn't have much time.

He snatched the second grappling gun from tims hand. "You go up." he said. And rushed towards the wall to fix the hook on it. And put in a failsafe.

"Oh... Conner? What are you doing?" 

Conner fixed the grappling hook on the opposite wall and smiled at his friend. "Something I'll probably regret." he said and went to the balcony at superspeed.

He waited for a second. Debating whether to jump or forget about all this.

(Jump)

Conner closed his eyes and hoped for the best. He went up the railings and jumped down. Red Robins shouts of "Conner!" echoed in the background.

Conner gripped the grappling hook like his life depended on it. The free falling was making his heart bump in his throat. He started to regret the very act that very moment when he saw the ground and the speed wasn't reducing.

A scream left his throat and then suddenly his falling reduced to a halt. He couldn't feel the ground under his feet. He couldn't understand. There was no ground, there was nothing and there was no feeling of ache in his hand that showed the grappling had stopped his falling. 

He opened his eyes and looked at his hands. His hands could move freely in the air and the grappling moved with it. He looked at his feet, there was no ground under it.

Did he die already?

A dreaded voice kicked him out of his daydream. "Since when can you fly?" Red Robin shouted from the balcony. 

Conner looked up with a smile. "Three seconds ago!" he shouted back.

Conner looked up and felt himself slowly move upwards until he was face to face with Red Robin again. He gave a hand with a mocking smile. "Do you trust me?" He said dramatically.

"Are you quoting aladin now?" Red Robin murmured with a frown. "Not the time, Dude. Besides. I have a girlfriend."

Red Robin accepted the hand and hung on to it. Superboy moved upwards again. They landed on the upper floors and Red Robin opened the windows for them to step inside the huge dark room with one singular holo-computer. 

"Hold on a second. Is your girlfriend one of those blond girls on the team? Wait a minute! Wondergirl?" he said with shock. " Is she Cassie? Dude, you managed to win the heart of a demigod!"

Red Robin connected the main console to his wrist computer and started his work. "Well, she kissed me first, before that, I was completely oblivious." he admitted.

The sound of the explosion in the lower floors caught them off guard. Conner looked back instinctively. Tim turned on his holo-computer and started typing frantically. "Yeah how about you listen to my love story later." he murmured.

Conner shrugged and looked around. Their only source of light was the window and the holocomputer on Tim's wrist. Conner activated his enhanced visions and realised there wasn't much else in the room except fascinating hand drawn wallpapers.

He tried to shift back to normal vision but changing his vision was proven to be more challenging than reverting back his hearing. Conner slowly started to get a headache, he unconsciously closed his eyes and grabbed his head.

"Con, you alright?" Tim said without taking his eyes off the computer.

Conner shook his head. "I'll manage... Did you find anything?" he whispered.

"I'm getting in- Im getting in." Red Robin murmured. His hands moved rapidly above the keyboard and typed what he had in mind.

Conner's eyes shifted back to normal just in time to see the holo computer black and green screen went completely blue, shutting off and disappearing. Conner's eyes widened. "What just happened?" he shouted.

"Its power was cut." Red Robin said calmly-- very calmly. It took a moment for Conner to hear the heartbeat of two other people in the room. "And we are not alone."

The lights of the room flared to life and the teenagers turned around to see two middle-aged men looking down at them from the other end of the hall. Red Robin was quick to move; he jumped forward and stood in front of Conner with a fighting stance, giving the two men a batglare of his own.

Vandal seemed to be expecting them. Red Robin wasn't surprised, the ancient man always had the element of surprise. "Wow. The younglings once again." Vandal Savage said with a wicked smile. "Don't you get tired of overestimating yourselves?"

"Not while we're successful in spoiling all your plans." Red Robin retaliated. "Your plans are getting old schooled now, savage."

Conner saw the slight movement in Deathstroke's posture and stepped forward to cover Tim with his body in case Deathstroke's hand got any closer to his gun and to appear more violent. "Tell us where You keep my father." Conner demanded with a frown. "Don't deny it. We know you have him. Those Androids you sent to fight the team were Luthercorp operatives."

Vandal said nothing and only showed his expressionless face for a whole minute. Nobody moved and everyone waited to see what Vandal would say. Conner wanted him to just confess where Lex was and be done with it, but he knew it was a narrow possibility.

Red Robin never took his eyes off Deathstroke. Although he knew he couldn't beat the man, he wasn't going down with a fight.

Vandal gave them a smirk. "The robots were not supposed to be tracked back to him." He explained. "He gave them to us so we would leave you and your miserable life alone. While we knew you would always belong to the light."

Conner just narrowed his eyes. He could feel Red Robin shifting into a battle stance behind him.

"But of course, he didn't do as he promised. He didn't do his part as our technical support... So we took him out of the equation and took what was ours."

Conner's eyes widened. Realization slowly settled in. "Took him out of the--" he murmured softly, his face showed open shock.

Vandal's eyes didn't move from the emotional unstable kryptonian in front of him as he said the next words: "Yes. Boy we don't have him here. You're looking for a dead man."

A second passed before Conner was ready to speak again and just like any other (part) human, he was in denial. "YOU'RE LYING." Conner screamed. His eyes grew warmer and warmer by the second. "WHERE IS HE?"

Vandal chuckled and pointed at deathstroke with a nod. Deathstroke picked something from his pocket and threw it carelessly to corners feet. 

Red Robin didn't show any emotion or take his eyes off the attackers. He didn't know what game the two were playing but for now he wanted to protect Conner while he dealt with the news.

Conner hung his gaze low and stared at that thing, upon close inspection he realised it was a ring, his father's ring. He kneeled and picked it up and inspected it thoroughly. It really was his ring. The one he always wore on his left hand.

Red Robin tightened his grip on his bo staff. "It's a trick. To infuriate you. Don't believe a word he says." he said seriously. But Conner was beyond those words.

"It is it... It's his ring." Conner said in disbelief.

"I know It's his because inside of the container is..." Conner trailed of, pressed the invisible button in the left and the gold slid open revealing a glowing pale green rock. His insides started to hurt, but not enough for him to show the pain or fall down like the first time. 

Conner realised he can withstand the effects of kryptonite if it doesn't touch his skin. Conner closed the lid slowly and held the ring with both hands. He kept his eyes glued to the floor, looking past the place he was holding the ring.

"Kryptonite." Vandal finished for him. "Now you believe me boy?"

Conner closed his eyes. Reality came crashing down on him and he finally believed what he should have when he saw his father's destroyed office.

Lex Luther was gone. He was gone and there was no coming back. He'd left him alone. Left him Alone. Alone. Alone. Conner was Alone now. His father was Gone. His father was gone. His father was--

He didn't care if Vandal was here, if Deathstroke was here. He just wanted to take Red Robin and fly out. Buy some privacy for himself until he completely digested the information. His eyes grew warmer and warmer a pale red settled in his green eyes without him knowing it.

Deathrokes mocking stopped Conner from taking his friend and leaving for good. Deathstroke laughed and said: "turns out Lex couldn't even raise you right. Lionel was right about a thing or two."

Conner didn't raise his head but Red Robin cautiously stepped back when he saw smoke coming out of Conners eyes, He put a hand on Conners shoulder and tried to take his friend away from the two villains. Conner didn't budge. 

Deathstroke picked up his sword but before he could attack, Conner looked up. The two villains could finally see the red eyes on his face. "You wanted it this way." he shouted as his heat vision activated.

It hit Deathstroke square in the chest. He was thrown back to the other side, away from vandal. Conner didn't let go. He stood up, his eyes were smoking and his body language screamed vengeance. Before he could aim another blow at vandal savage, deathstroke was up and attacking him.

Conner's heat vision had almost burnt off the front side of his costume completely but Deathstroke was still fighting. Conner knew he couldn't beat Deathstroke on hand-to-hand combat so he flew off and aimed another blast at his chest. This time, the wall behind him broke and Deathstroke was thrown to the other room.

During the battle, Red Robin took a moment to consider that he should Follow Conner and stop him from doing what he'll regret. 

Their battle had already destroyed the computer room and its voices were coming from the other end of the hall. Red Robin looked at Vandal savage for one last time. "This isn't over. Consider yourself lucky this time." He threatened.

"Oh please, I feel like I'm being threatened by a toddler." he murmured before Clarion's Red portal appeared out of nowhere and took him away.

Red Robin didn't waste anymore time, he followed the sound of battle and hoped he would get there in time.

A little distance away, Deathstoke had gained the upper hand and had Conner pinned to the ground, then he managed to break his sword trying to cut through Conners abdomen. The shattered pieces fell down and Connor had just enough time to land another powerful punch of his own and send the man away.

When conner floated back to the air, Deathstroke was on his feet again and had a new weapon in hand, a glowing green knife. Conner's heat vision died down when he saw it, but his frown stayed in place.

"A little afraid I see." Deathstoke said with a chuckle. His face was destroyed from the amount of punches Conner had managed to land and if it wasn't for his accelerated healing, he would have internal bleeding too. But here he was, standing like nothing had happened with a kryptonite knife and one of the most threatening smirks Conner had ever seen. "Oh, where did all that bravery go."

Conner charged down once again but he wasn't fast enough to land the first blow this time, Deathstroke used a kryptonite knife and slashed a line right across his chest. Conner hissed in pain and took a few steps back. Hugging himself and shielding the injury from Kryptonites radiation.

Deathstroke chuckled, happy with his work. "You feel it boy? It's kryptonite. Don't you dare think I came here unprepared." he spinned the knife in his hands. 

Conner didn't move, he just waited and listened. 

Deathstroke lifted his knife. "Nice knowing you kid, but I have a job." He murmured and aimed for Conner back.

In a split second when the Knife was still in the air, Conner moved, he turned and hit Deathstroke's wrist in the air. The kryptonite knife was thrown across the room, never to be seen again. Conner could see with his X-ray vision that the man's wrist was broken and useless for a few minutes before Death Stokes accelerated healing fixed it.

Conner smiled and kicked Deathstroke angrily to the other side, aiming directly for his spinal cord. A few perfectly aimed punches to the man's neck did all the work. His kryptonian level speed gave him a huge advantage over Deathstroke.

Deathstroke fell down, Conner didn't waste a second, he lifted the other man up and hit him to the ground three times, the floor beneath him gave out and fell.

Conner floated as he watched the ground and Deathstroke fell to the lower ground. He looked down and his eyes started to glow red again, Deathstoke couldn't move with all the damage done to his back and Conner felt lowkey proud when he saw the man on the rubble. 

He landed on his feet and lifted the grown man like he was nothing. His heat vision was slowly hurting his own eyes so he had to make it quick.

But he couldn't. It felt like a solid wall, he couldn't force the lasers to come out or his other hand to grip the man's throat and be done with it. He couldn't. He couldn't.

Deathstroke couldn't move but that didn't stop him from mocking conner. "You're even weaker than your old man."

Conner tightened his grip on the man's clothes, Anger taking control of his every action and putting logical thought neatly aside.

Is that why his father always regarded anger as the worst human emotion? Most likely. 

His heat vision was ready to burn the man when a cry of "NO" stopped him.

"Conner, Dont!" Red Robin shouted from the top of the hole in the building from the upper floor. 

Conner didn't take his eyes off deathstroke's eyes. It would be too easy, a blast at the same spot and it would be over. Without moving he shouted: "Leave me alone, this doesn't concern you!"

"It does!!" Red Robin shouted he sent a grappling hook and slowly swung down the floor between them. "If you kill him, you'll become the same thing people always were afraid you are! If you kill him, the justice league will have to take you!"

Conner took his eyes off the mercenary and looked at his friend. "You have no right to say it." Conner shouted, his eyes never turning off, always red, always smoking. "He killed my father! He has to pay!"

"He will. Conner I promise you, he will."

"What do you want in all this?" Conner spat. "Haven't you made me suffer enough??" 

Red Robin didn't say a word. His hand reached his face and he slowly slid off his mask, unmasking himself. "I want everyone to know you as I know you. And I can't let you fall that deep. Remember the second rule? The one I always called unnecessary?" Red Robin-- No Tim-- murmured. His friend took a huge risk unmasking himself just to remind him of his own self.

"No matter what we do, some people will still paint us as the villians. Sometimes you have to act smart enough to stop any possibility of being painted the villain."

Deathstroke was half conscious and he couldn't form coherent words. From his smirk, Conner knew if he could form words, he would have taunted him for not aiming for the kill right away. 

Tims voice echoed in the building: "Conner. I've known you since we were kids. I know you're strong enough not to do this."

He was right.

Tim was right.

And he couldn't do this. No matter how much he wanted to.

Slowly, The heat in his eyes died down. He closed his eyes and threw Deathstroke to the other side of the building. He hit a wall, but the sound of his ragged breathing told them he was still alive.

Conner opened his eyes and stared down at his hands, he noticed his watch was cracked, it's computer was now most likely destroyed. His vision started to blur and he felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. 

The next moment, his knees were no longer strong enough to keep him standing. He fell down on his knees and buried his face in his hands. Right there he allowed himself to finally let the tears escape soundlessly. He finally let himself feel sadness. The tears came down with no break. Conner felt like he would choke if he stopped them from falling from his eyes.

And at this point, he didn't care about Tim seeing him cry. 

Tim kneeled down beside him and took him an awkward one-sided embrace, one that Conner couldn't return. "You did good." he murmured.

"I wish I didn't." he muttered. His voice came out broken and miserable and Conner hated it. Tim just tightened his hold on Conner, silently assuring him that everything will be alright.

They sat like that. Until the dust settled, until the war outside broke out and until Conner ran out of energy to cry. Tim never let him go.

=======

The league managed to do the rest.

The light was too resourceful to be completely gone after this battle. They probably had thousands of other faculties all over the world. Even if they had no idea what the light was planning, this was a victory worth celebration.

For everyone except Conner.

Tim never left his side. They sat on top of the roof and enjoyed the sunrise in complete silence while the league did whatever they wanted downstairs.

Conner broke the silence when the sun was completely up. "The situation is dealt with... So we can go now.'' Conner murmured and looked at Tim. "So why aren't we?"

"They wanted to make you destroy the compound in a state of anger." Tim said seriously. "Good for now. The league is trying to get whatever information they can on The light and--" Tim was rudely interrupted by the beep on his communicator. He put his hand on his ear: "yes, batman?"

"Red Robin, bring Conner down. This is very important."

Tim raised an eyebrow and sighed. "Are you in the mood for it??"

Conner nodded. "Like I can say no to batman." he said and followed Tim inside. Tim Took out his mask and put it on his eyes, becoming Red Robin.

Conner rolled his eyes. "Does he ever say why he wants you somewhere?" he asked.

Red Robin shook his head with a sigh. "Not 90 percent of the time... The hanging is part of the punishment. The other 10 percent he wants to surprise you."

Conner just nodded. 

When they got down to the main holding cells, which were miraculously in one piece except a giant whole on the wall. Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman were waiting for them. Conner didn't care about the people in the room. He was surprised why they were meeting next to the holding cells.

Until he found out why.

One of the paramedics was pushing a bed quickly to get him to the nearest hospital via the waiting Zeta tube. Conner recognised the bald man with open shocked green eyes that was lying on the table.

Lex Luther.

And if his super hearing was correct, his heart was beating healthily, but he clearly needed medical attention because of a bad case of pneumonia. 

Conner's mouth fell open, he wanted to dash forward and hug his dad and make sure he was living and checking it and-- he couldn't believe his eyes. "Dad..." he murmured. The bed was taken away faster than he could react. A smile crept up to his face. A genuinely happy smile. He jumped up. He wanted to run to his dad when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder.

He turned away to find superman staring down at him. "He was severely exposed to kryptonite, he's dangerous to you..." he said with no apparent emotions. "To us... For now at least."

Conner eyes widened and his smile fell. "You know!" he murmured. Superman just nodded.

In the background, Tim knew he was going to be in so much trouble for hiding Conners true nature but for now, he was happy everything turned out fine. He stepped forward and hit Conner in the shoulder. "You were right." he said. Conner's shocked gaze turned to him. "Lex Luther was alive after all."

Tim lifted his hand for a high five and Conner slowly high-fived him. Not believing everything was really happening.

But of course, batman had to ruin the mood. "Let's make one thing clear." batman said with his harsh voice. Tim and Conner turned to him. "The secrets you held, the actions you took and the people you put in danger was out of thought. You should have been truthful about who you were. We are not happy."

Conner smiled. "I was truthful Batman. I never said one lie. Forgive me but you never exactly asked about my other parent and when you needed help, I intervened." he said with a smirk and then he turned to superman. "Ok... Maybe I owe you an apology but definitely I don't owe one to you, batman."

He walked backwards until he was inches away from a hole in the wall. Nothing was behind it, just a plain sky and freedom. Conners smile widened. "So, I guess I don't need to hide this from you anymore." he said proudly.

In a split second, Conner looked at Tim with a smile, "See you later, buddy." Conner said and jumped back. Free falling to the ground. Batman and superman followed him to the hole out of panic and when they looked down, they saw a floating conner waving at them.

Superman's eyes widened. "Kid no-- wait--"

"It was nice knowing you!" he said and dashed away. Flying to Metropolis and enjoying the sensation of wind on his skin for the first time. He would be lost, sure, but Conner had never felt this free and whole his entire life.

Superman sighed. "He might pass out mid-flight." he said as a matter of fact. "The first time we use our powers to this extent... We passed out unexpectedly."

The men looked at each other with surprise. Batman looked at superman with his usual frown. "Can you follow him?" he asked. 

Wonder woman didn't let superman answer. She laughed, loudly and then put her lasso back on her waist. "That boy, he is a warrior. I like him." she said and looked directly at superman. "I don't care what you say... I'm giving this son of yours some proper training when he joins. He is old enough. You can't object."

Superman just massaged the bridge of his nose with a grunt.

=======

Conner landed in an abandoned alleyway, took the metro station, reached Lexcorp and demanded to know where Mercy was.

The news of Lex Luther being found had already been a top hit from the daily planet and the reporter was none other than Lois Lane. Luthercorp employees already knew their assumed dead boss was alive.

The poor receptionist was confused, But without further delay, He called Mercy Graves and told her Conner Luther was looking for her. He passed the phone to Conner and conner Heard three words before he raced out of the company.

"Luther general hospital."

Conner didn't know the way, he had no money, his phone battery had died down days ago And his watch was destroyed.

But somehow, none of that could ruin his mood.

He asked around and finally reached the entrance of Luther general hospital. The green doors opened and he rushed inside. 

To his surprise, a nurse led him right through the emergency rooms when he introduced himself. Conner walked down the empty white halls that extremely resembled the watchtower, and found a double door at the end.

And a familiar woman talking to the doctor

Conner smiled as he watched his guardian for the first time in days."Mercy!" Conner murmured as he ran, he took the cyborg assistant into a tight embrace when he reached her. "Man, I missed you so much." he murmured quietly. To his surprise, Mercy returned the hug for maybe the first time in his life.

However, she didn't say anything and broke the hug after a few seconds. Conner wiped away the tear of joy and happiness from his eye. "Did he wake up?"

Mercy gave him a soft smile. "Not yet. But the Kryptonite is cleared so you can see him." she said. Mercy quietly opened the double doors and let him inside.

He could see his unconscious father lying on a bed with numerous machines connected to his body. There was a doctor there too, observing his patient.

"I knew it, Dad." Conner murmured softly as he listened to the weak heartbeats coming from the bed. "I knew it."

The doctor turned around and looked at the two. His face was neutral. "Congregations are in order. It's a miracle he's alive." he said as a matter of fact. "But we won't know the extent of the damage until he wakes up."

Conner recognised the doctor as one of his childhood physicists, one of the few his father ever trusted with the truth about his creation. "Thanks doctor Kalou." Conner said with a nod.

The doctor came closer and instructed him to sit down on the only chair in the room, next to the bed. "Sit down. I have to take a look at you too."

Conner raised his hands in surrender. "No, I'm fine, believe me." he said with a smile. "In fact, I'm better than I ever was."

Doctor Kalou rolled his eyes. "You mean to tell me that you haven't had contact with the only ever virus that managed to make you sick again in the past few days?" he asked with a frown.

Conner eyes widened. "How did you--"

"Sit down, boy, I have to take a look at you."

Mercy gently pushed him towards the chair and gave him a little smile. Then, she went out of the room and closed the door, leaving them in privacy.

The doctor sighed loudly. "You are an idiot, Conner, an idiot." he said as he tried to listen to the sound of his heart with the phone. "What were you thinking? Getting close to someone that had that illness? Do you have any idea how little we know about it?"

Conner rolled his eyes. "I couldn't just sit by and do nothing!" he murmured before he had to open his mouth for the doctor to inspect the back of his throat. Conner almost gagged when The doctor pressed down his tongue with the wooden stick.

The doctor shook his head with anger. "There's nothing here but I swear to god if you make me watch you on your deathbed again--" he didn't finish it. The doctor took his left hand to take his blood pressure one last time.

"I'm Fine Doctor... Believe me." Conner said with a smile. "I've never been better."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Your blood pressure is up on the roof." he said with horror. "I'll be back in a few hours to check on it again."

"Doctor Kalou-- I--." Conner tried to say he had been flying around the city but he beat him to it. "No buts" he said and gently ruffled the boy's hair.

"Good hair dye by the way." the doctor murmured and raised an eyebrow.

Conner shook his head "It's not hair dye." he whispered quietly. 

"Oh." the doctor murmured. He stared at the black hair that used to be auborn again. "I suspected something like this would happen." he ruffled his hair again and walked away.

Before he left the son and his unconscious father alone, he looked back at Conner with a smile. "Black hair suits you. It pops your green eyes out." he said with a smile. 

Conner nodded. The doctor closed the door behind him and left Conner alone with the sound of machinery that was keeping his father's vitals in check.

Conner finally had the chance to look at Lex Luther thoroughly. He looked paler than usual and extremely thinner. There were also bags under his eyes.

He expected that much, after all, he was a prisoner of the light for more than a week. Conner's mind started to wonder if what Vandal said was really the truth of what happened.

Conner closed his eyes. He could hear the real voice of his father's heart beat and the sound of "Beep... Beep" that the machines were making.

Deep down, he felt relieved and exhausted at the same time. He knew his recent misuse of his newfound powers was the reason he could barely hold his head up and the aching headache was probably because of the high blood pressure.

He felt better than he had been for a long time, he wasn't lying about that. But exhaustion was making it hard to live in the moment.

Conner closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the hospital, he tried to stay conscious, he really did.

Conner was out cold before he even knew it.

=======

Sound. Touch. Light.

He realised things in that order as he slowly waked up without ever realising he had passed out.

"Rise and shine."

The voice was commanding as usual. Calm, quiet and bossy, which left barely any room for affection. He slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes. 

Lex was sitting up and reading a newspaper. The Windows were open and the light of Metropolis sunny days was lighting the room. Lex gave him a weak smile. "Rise and shine." he repeated.

Conner jumped up from his chair and hugged his living father tightly.

Lexs eyes widened at the sudden show of affection, he slightly tapped him in the back. "I miss you too, son." Lex said quietly. 

Conner closed his eyes and let the moment sink in, for once he didn't want to talk. Talking would ruin the moment. Lex returned the hug with one arm and Conner let out the breath he had no idea he was holding.

These hugs were rare, but now, it looked like the right thing to do. 

A thought slowly started to go in his mind that maybe he shouldn't put that much strain in the other man's body so Conner tightened his hold and let go.

Conner let go and sat back down on the chair. "You were dead." he said shortly, a hint of shock evident in his voice. If he hadn't 90 percent of last week believing his father was alive somewhere, this moment would have been much more surprising.

Lex put aside the newspaper that was folded between them. "As I've been told." he said with a smirk. "But someone didn't believe them."

"Every single person told me you were dead." Conner repeated with a sharp but broken tone. He looked up and his green eyes started shining. "Every single person. Even you!"

Lex didn't get what Conner meant and he didn't press it. Conner just rolled his eyes. "You always said I should only believe the evidence. And there was nothing pointing to your actual death. Im glad youre here and I DESERVE a hug after all I went through this past week."

Lex looked at the newspaper from the corner of his eyes. "So I've seen." he whispered. 

Conner wanted to point out he had superhearing now and could hear whatever his father murmured under his breath, but he decided against. Anything Kryptonian related could be for another time.

Slowly, lex stretched his hand to put it on Conners hand. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that. The light acted... More Reckless than I anticipated." Lex admitted. "But i'm impressed by how you handled it, my boy."

Conner's eyes widened. "Really?" he murmured softly.

"Yes. For one. You did manage to save me." lex said with a laugh. "But there is something else. The more I think about it, the more I realize you don't really belong in the business world... Well not with your current mindset you don't."

Conner touched the back of his neck awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

"You said you'll change the way of the company after I am gone." Lex said and raised an eyebrow. 

"Ahhh come on! Of all things you had to get your hands on that interview." he murmured as he put down his bag and handed mercy the flowers. "By the way, I was there to just find out who superman really was so... What I said back then in the interview wasn't exactly the truth..."

Lexs smile fell and put the newspaper away. 

There... That was it, the elephant in the room.

Conner slid his chair a little bit closer to the bed and leaned forward. "You should have told me." Conner said as a matter of fact. "You should have told me sooner."

All of a sudden, the atmosphere changed. Lex wanted to come up with another brilliant reason why he shouldn't have but Conner beat him to it. "When I got the video... It was before I found out you were still alive." Conner said and crossed his arms. "You gave me a full blown identity crisis, Dad. You had no right to keep it from me all that time."

Lex didn't break the silence. He felt like Conner needed the outburst of emotions. 

"You had no right. You should have at least told me partially but... But... No matter how convincing your reasons were, it still hurt." Conner murmured, his voice almost broke. "I thought I was a monster." Conner murmured softly.

"Don't. Say. that." Lex muttered. "Never say that. If you underestimate yourself and beat yourself up, your enemies will eat you alive."

Conner blinked away a tear and stopped it from falling. The feeling of hearing those words for the first time were the best thing he ever felt. "I know" Conner said with a smile. "Luther rule number 5. I know that, dad. You've told me a thousand times."

Conner narrowed his eyes and leaned forward again maintaining eye contact with his father. "But if there is some other life changing secret that I don't know about.... I'd like to hear it now and not on a tape a few decades from now." he said seriously. 

Lex smiled and leaned down, ruffling the boy's hair. "No, there isn't much."

Conner raised an eyebrow. "So there is something." He concluded.

Lex just laughed.

"For one, Are you seriously ready to talk about what you must do to be able to have children? now You know you can't have babies the way two humans do, right?" Lex said with a laugh. "The method I had in mind was more of a--"

Conner blushed and looked away. "O-okay... I got your point." He murmured.

Lex comfortably leaned back and looked at his son. "I've heard alot about what happened in my absence from Mercy." Lex said and threw the newspaper away. "But nothing can quite tell me what happened to you exactly. Now start talking. What happened exactly while I was gone?"

Conner leaned back with a smile. He was more than happy to tell the crazy tale of how the last days, From discovering the secret identity of superman to the lights plan of killing superboy through a virus. For the sake of their sanity, Conner left a few things out, like the secret Identity of Timothy Drake-Wayne. 

To his surprise, His father already knew that part.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks you for your KUDOSES and COMMENTS. 
> 
> I'll post the epilogue tomarow or the day after that.
> 
> Until then, Rose_lily_sunflowers out! <3


	9. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world has another kryptonian now, the league won't take that lightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 27th november edit: I wanted to post a picture and failed miserably, sorry if you got the notification for an update.

Tim appeared on their doorstep three days later. After the news of Lex Luther leaving the hospital broke the internet. He appeared with a Black hoodie which had a yellow S Shield on the front

Tim called Conner and asked him to let him in. He also assured Conner there was no bat-business going on. Mercy didn't let him enter the mansion at first, but Conner convinced her to open the doors.

Politely, Conner went to greet his friend. At first, They didn't know if they should do their famous fistbump or awkwardly look at each other. Finally, Conner broke the tension and hugged him.

"It's ok," he murmured as he held his friend tighter. "We can pretend the past week didn't happen."

Tim noded and gave him a soft smile. "Actually, I think something good will come out of it." he murmured.

Without wasting their time with further chatting, Tim grabbed his elbow and sneaked him out, Conner let him.

He didn't ask where they were going until they reached the place the entire journey started, metropolis city center park. In Front of the daily planet, where Conner first confessed about his parentage and his plans for the future.

So much had changed between those two meetings. The boys weren't the same and their understanding of each other wasn't the same.

Conner knew there was something else going on. "Tim," he said emotionlessly, "why are we really here. I know you don't want ice cream."

Tim gave him a smile. "He wants to talk to you," he explained. "And we can go for some Ice cream after and discuss a few names."

Conner raised an eyebrow. He knew exactly who "he" was and honestly, he wasn't ready to face the man. However, he didn't get what his friend meant by "discussing a few names."

Conner decided to ignore it. He awkwardly touched the back of his head. "Are you sure about this?" Conner murmured. "I mean... I never really wanted to get close to him and all. I don't need another father."

Many people were enjoying the sunny afternoon out in the park. The voices of children playing and adults talking filled the silence between them and made it a little more bearable.

Tim put a hand on his shoulder. "Ma and Pa went crazy when they heard the news. Like it or not, you're a part of their family now. Besides, Jon drilled me for information on you last time he was in the manor." Tim said with a smile.

"Is that so?"

Tim shrugged carelessly. "The real question is how did we sneak out without Luther finding out?" he said and touched his chin in a thinking manner.

"Honestly, I think he knows. He just didn't want to stop me." Conner said quietly.

"He is afraid you'll leave him." Tim said as a matter of fact. Conner's eyes widened. "I wouldn't just leave my dad... Sure, I was planning on moving out next year but... Not LEAVING leaving."

Tim Raised an eyebrow. "The JL could have taken you from his custody. It wasn't always your choice." He said emotionlessly.

Conner looked away from his friend. Those words were true, if the JL had found out sooner they would have taken his custody and god knows what would have happened after that. Conner decided to direct his gaze at the nearby buildings instead of marvelling his best friend's blue eyes. His eyes landed on the Daily planet again.

... Which reminded him.

Conner murmured angrily, most of which Tim didn't hear. "Where is he? why is he taking so long?" Conner whispered anxiously.

Tim tabbed him in the shoulder and pointed to their left. Conner turned around to see a man in a large brown coat and black glasses coming towards them with a frown.

"Speak of the devil..." Conner murmured out of habit. Tim punched him in the shoulder. "He has super hearing." Tim whispered angrily. Conner rolled his eyes and robbed the place Tim had punched, even though it didn't really hurt.

The man walked and walked until he reached them, the frown never left his face. Tim nodded politely. "Hello, Clark." he said.

Clark smiled down at tim. "Hey tim, how's everything?" he asked. To which Tim answered: "moderately fine"

When his blue eyes landed on Conners green ones, Conner tried to choose a word that would be both polite and friendly but not too friendly.

"Greetings." Conner said with no emotions.

Clark was as awkward. Tim wanted to hit his head somewhere. He pointed at the ice cream shop and decided to treat himself. "I'll leave you alone." Tim murmured and went away.

Conner studied the man's body language one more time. He stood confidently and seemed to be calmer than Conner was.

Clark pointed at the chairs. "I think we should take a seat." he said with a forced smile. Conner nodded and they sat down on the brown wooden chair in the park, facing the playgrounds.

Neither of them said a word

For the moment, Conner decided to watch the children play in the playground. Children sang and Swinged. A bunch of parents standing nearby to be able to help their kids in case anything happened.

Clark was the one who broke their silence. "I have to admit I never thought I'd be in this situation." Clark said with a smile.

Conner took a deep breath. Forming words was harder than he thought it would. "Neither did I to be honest." Conner murmured. "But don't think for a moment I blame dad for it."

Conner didn't want the conversation to go that way. He didn't want his father's worries to become a reality. He didn't want The JL to convince him to leave his father. And he wanted that to be very clear from the start.

"Neither do I, to be honest." Clark said. "Lex contacted the watchtower last night and explained everything. How he also didn't know and what Lionel did. The league was convinced and so was I."

Conner sighed loudly. "Batman didn't want to take care of this secret weapon? I'm surprised."

Clark chuckled. "You can thank Tim for that." he said. "Tim is... Very convincing when he wants to be."

Silence settled between them. Clark knew what he was doing, he wanted Conner to talk so he could wait for Conners words. Meanwhile he could enjoy the sounds of the park and the cheering of the kids nearby. He didn't have to wait long.

"Look. I'm sorry... I know I never really apologized for all I did in your Not-so-secret hideout." Conner said and raised both of his hands in a small surrender gesture. "And about sneaking inside your secret one in the arctic." he added awkwardly.

"Well..." Clark murmured.

"I'm sorry." Conner said and put his hands in his pocket. "The last thing dad told me was that if the league found out, they'd take me away. So I didn't want you to find out and Jor-El found out completely accidentally. He also swore secrecy. I hope he didn't tell you."

Clark hummed. "He didn't, promises were sacred on Krypton." Clark said as a matter of fact.

"Yeah..."

Clark didn't say anything for a long time. Silence settled between them until Clark broke it with a question. "Why did you sneak inside the fortress of solitude?" he asked.

Conner stilled for a moment and took a deep breath. "I wanted to know more about krypton... About you and about me." he said quietly. "But more importantly I wanted to know how your culture treated people like me."

Clark raised an eyebrow. "People like you?"

"Clones, children. Unwanted children. Children the parent didn't know about. Hybrids. Hybrid who grew up in another environment. The list goes on." Conner said with a frown. "The truth is, I wanted to anticipate your reaction if I ever made myself known"

Clark hummed. He took a card out of his notebook and put the notebook aside. "Well I know one thing, Conner." Clark said with a smile. "Kryptonians never abandoned their keen." and gave him the card. Conner took it and saw it was a coordination and a password written on it. Conner flipped it over and there was something written in a weird language on the other side. Conner raised an eyebrow.

"My parents want to meet you. Lara and Jor-El want to meet you. Jon and Lois want to meet you. Well...Again, for the very first time." Clark said with a smile. "But more importantly, Jon wants a big brother and thinks you deserve the same amount of "ruthless training" under the bat's supervision as he does. Wonder woman already volunteered to be your trainer... And honestly, good luck about that."

Conner let out a laugh.

Conner pointed at the card. "Behind it is a map... Sorts of... Of the nearest Zeta tube to where you live, press the password and you'll be transported into the watchtower. You have an open invitation to join the team."

Conner's eyes widened. He hadn't given it much thought but the offer was too tempting. Tim was right. He was going to need his help to 'discuss a few names' because he had no idea what sort of superhero name he should take. "For real?" he asked. "Although I doubt Dad would allow it."

"You'll be legal in a few months... You won't need his approval." Clark said with a smirk.

"Aren't you supposed to be a hero?" Conner said with a smile. "Did you just encourage me to do something behind my dad's back?"

Clark chuckled. "I just told you the truth!" he said with a smile. "Anyway, Jor-El pointed out something very important. Your kryptonian name. He took the tendency of naming you himself."

Conner raised an eyebrow and looked at the weird writings on the other side of the card.

"Kon-El," Clark said. "He named you Kon-El. And that makes you-- irrevocably-- a member of the fortress."

Conner wanted to laugh at the similarity between "Kon-El" and "Conner". He stared at the writings with a smile. Kryptonian writings. His entire body was filled with happiness when he looked at it and decided to write these symbols on every single personalized object he owns.

Even his watch.

"Alright, deal." Conner said with a smile. Green eyes met blue ones and for the first time that evening, they were filled with joy. "But you have to teach me kryptonian."

======

The day Conner's training was going to start his training with the league (read: wonder woman and Batman) came too soon.

Conner wore a black T-Shirt with a Red S-Shield and Jeans instead of the hightech solar suit Lex had designed for him.

Conner took a deep breath before he opened the door of his room and walked out of it, he knew full well his father was going to try to stop him.

Conner was NOT losing this opportunity under any circumstance.

Conner was right, Lex Luther was waiting for him downstairs. He still wasn't strong enough to get off his wheelchair but he sure felt strong enough to start running the company again.

Mercy was standing right behind him with the angriest frown ever possible.

Conner stilled in the stairs and he slowly leaned back against the wall.

Lex pressed the controllers of his wheelchair so he could get closer to his son. They exchanged a look.

Conner crossed his arms. "Come on dad we talked about this and you agreed!" he said out of frustration.

"What do I have to do to make you forget about the justice league's offer?" Lex said from his wheelchair.

Conner laughed out loud."I'm not going to, dad. No matter how much you bribe me." Conner said as a matter of fact. "Besides... It was your idea that I should get in touch with my kryptonian side."

Lex massaged the bridge of his nose. "I meant talking to Jor-El not training with the league and their junior team." he said with a tired sigh.

Conner shrugged. "It's all a part of it." Conner walked the remaining distance between them and hugged his father. "It's okay, dad. Believe me. I can take care of myself and Tim's there!"

Lex broke the hug with a laugh. "Somehow that isn't soothing at all." he said and waved his hand. "Go have fun before I change my mind."

Conner chuckled. "Yeah, Like you can stop me, I have superpowers now, dad." he said confidently

Lex just gave him a look. Conner suddenly remembered all the anti-superman weaponry this house had.

He raced away. "Ok, dad bye! See you this afternoon!" he said rapidly and dashed away. He opened the door of the house and disappeared into the gardens.

Lex sighed loudly, a smile slowly settled in his face. "It was only last week that I had to protect him from the light...Now look at him." Lex murmured to himself. "He's now strong enough to fight them."

Conner went directly to the gardens and looked at the card superman gave him. The Zeta tube wasn't so far away, only a ten-minute walk.

But he didn't have to walk there did he? He could fly.

But someone could see him. It was a risk but Connor looked at the sky and smiled happily. He would fly to the zeta tube and enjoy the view of metropolis from the skies, for the first time in his life.

Flight came naturally to him, he trusted himself enough to fly away now, even with zero training.

Conner closed his eyes and let the weightlessness take over, when he opened his green eyes again he was floating in the air. Conner aimed for the skies and bolted away.

After all, what good were these superpowers if he couldn't use them for some fun?

~

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~~~~~ _ **THE END**_ ~~~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! Please tell me what you think in the comments...
> 
> Thank you all for your support during these times. The comments and kudoses meant the world to me and to know people actually liked this story is an amazing feeling.
> 
> So thanks for everything. <3 
> 
> Best wishes,  
> Sabrina (AKA. Rose_lily_sunflowers).
> 
> Ps. Should I write a sequel for this??? Please let me know if you think I should!!!??


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